Professional Card Renewal
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice regarding the renewal of my Professional Card in the Brussels region.
I work in IT as a software developer. My Professional Card was issued on 1 September 2025 and is valid until 31 August 2026. It was initially granted for one year.
At the time of the application, I was still working full-time under a Single Permit. My original plan was to resign from my employer as soon as I received the Professional Card and immediately start my freelance activity.
However, after receiving the card, I had to deal with some unexpected medical issues, which delayed my transition to self-employment. Because of this, I was not able to start the activity as quickly as planned.
Timeline:
- Professional Card issued: September 2025
- VAT number activated: February 2026
- First VAT return filed as NIL for Q1 2026
- Social contributions paid for the first 2 quarters of 2026
- Received first client offer: 30 March 2026
- Client is in the banking sector, so background verification/security checks took around a month
- Final onboarding/start date postponed further because the onboarding manager went on leave
- Expected actual start date: last week of May 2026
My concern is about the renewal application because, considering the processing times, I will likely need to apply by the end of May or mid-June 2026.
The issue is that although the Professional Card was issued for one year, in practice I will only have been fully active for roughly the last 3 months and 1 week (1 week in May and June-August 2026), mainly due to circumstances and delays outside my control.
I have still remained fully compliant:
- VAT activated correctly
- VAT returns submitted
- Social contributions paid on time
- Client contract/start confirmed
My questions are:
- Has anyone been in a similar situation where the activity started later than originally planned?
- How strict are they during renewal regarding the first year’s turnover/activity?
- Would proof of upcoming contracts/client onboarding help strengthen the renewal application?
- Are there any specific documents or explanations that would help improve the chances of renewal?
Any experiences or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot!