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Good practice Imported

Expat Welcome Desk — Brussels-Capital Region's free multilingual relocation service

Belgium · Brussels · See the Belgium profile · See the Brussels profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 29% 76/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Free multilingual (EN/FR/NL) advisory service for anyone relocating to Brussels for work, run by the Brussels-Capital Region Commissioner for Europe for 25+ years. Helps with registration, residence permits, work permits, taxation and social security.

Expat Welcome Desk — Brussels-Capital Region's free multilingual relocation service

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Commissioner for Europe and International Organisations, Brussels-Capital Region
Period
1990s–present
Region (NUTS)
BE10
Keywords
International talent, public administration, relocation services

Context

The Expat Welcome Desk is a public advisory service of the Brussels-Capital Region, run by the Commissioner for Europe and International Organisations. For more than 25 years it has provided free, multilingual (English/French/Dutch) support to people relocating to Brussels for work.

Objectives

The service aims to help incoming international workers and their families navigate Belgian administrative procedures, covering municipal registration, residence and work permits, taxation, social security and family reunification.

Activities

Advisors deliver personalised guidance by phone, email, in person and video call, with a dedicated antenna co-located at the European Parliament's ASP building for EU staff.

Conclusions

An independent OECD review (2023) confirmed Brussels' strength in attracting highly skilled international workers and identified integration services as important for converting that attraction into lasting retention, though it did not publish figures specific to the desk's own caseload or outcomes.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Publicly funded advisory service embedded in the Brussels-Capital Region Commissioner for Europe's office; no consultation fees; specific budget not disclosed in source content.
Time to results
Short (< 1 year) — Operating continuously since the 1990s; individual consultations are available on demand without a formal enrolment period.
Staffing & skills
Advisory team within the Commissioner for Europe and International Organisations' office

Conditions for success

  • Institutional anchoring in a Commissioner-level regional government office
  • Multilingual (EN/FR/NL) delivery removes language barriers
  • Free-of-charge, broad eligibility regardless of nationality or sector
  • Dedicated antenna at the European Parliament for EU staff

Where it fits

Governance type
regional government office
Scale
city/regional
Income level
high-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes ESF+ — European Social Fund Plus

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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