How to Hire Childcare Workers and Nannies in Belgium from Abroad (2026)

6 min

Is there a childcare shortage in Belgium and is non-EU hiring realistic?

Belgium faces an acute shortage of early childhood staff, particularly in urban centres like Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, and Liège. Crèches (kinderdagverblijven) and private childcare providers routinely operate below capacity or close group sections because they cannot meet mandatory adult-to-child staffing ratios. However, hiring non-EU childcare workers and nannies directly into Belgium is legally complex, slow, and rarely used as a quick fix.

If you are considering candidates from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), you must understand the reality of the sector upfront. Childcare in Belgium is a strictly regulated trade. Regional regulatory authorities-Opgroeien in Flanders and the Office de la Naissance et de l'Enfance (ONE) in Wallonia and Brussels-enforce strict qualification and language proficiency standards. Proving that a non-EU candidate meets these requirements while simultaneously passing a labor market test takes considerable effort.

Because of these barriers, most Belgian employers look for alternative local solutions first:

Cross-border recruitment: Hiring qualified EU citizens from neighboring countries or Southern Europe who benefit from automatic free movement and simpler diploma recognition pathways.
Subsidized upskilling: Partnering with regional employment agencies like VDAB (Flanders), Actiris (Brussels), or Forem (Wallonia) to train local jobseekers through workplace learning contracts (such as IBO or FPI).
Agency staffing: Relying on temporary placement agencies (uitzendbureaus) to cover short-term operational gaps.

Non-EU hiring is usually reserved for highly specific cases, such as specialized live-in nannies for private households with exceptional budgets, or institutional daycares willing to invest six to nine months to secure bilingual or specialized staff. If you decide to proceed, you must follow Belgium's regional work permit framework strictly.

The legal route: Navigating the Single Permit process

To employ a non-EU childcare worker or nanny for more than 90 days, you must obtain a Single Permit (Enkele machtiging / Permis unique). This document combines authorization to work and authorization to reside in Belgium into a single administrative procedure.

The application must be initiated by you, the employer, rather than the worker. You submit the application online via the official Belgian federal portal, Working in Belgium. Because employment policy is decentralized in Belgium, your application is processed jointly by two distinct entities:

The regional employment authority: The Department of Work and Social Economy (Departement Werk en Sociale Economie) in Flanders, Brussels Economy and Employment (Brussel Économie et Emploi) in the capital region, or SPW Économie, Emploi, Recherche in Wallonia. They assess whether the job offer respects wage rules and local labor market conditions.
The federal immigration authority: The Immigration Office (Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken - DVZ / Office des Étrangers), which conducts security background checks and evaluates public health requirements.

Unless the role falls under a recognized regional shortage list or high-skilled exemption, you must usually complete a labor market test. This requires you to prove that you advertised the open position through VDAB, Actiris, or Forem for a required minimum period and could not find a suitable Belgian or EU candidate. Always confirm current shortage classifications and filing rules directly with your regional authority, as these policies change frequently.

Realistic timelines from job offer to first day on site

Hiring a non-EU worker into Belgium is not a fast process. You should plan for a total timeline of six to nine months from the moment you make a job offer to the day the employee begins working in your facility or home.

The timeline breaks down into four sequential stages:

Stage 1: Qualification recognition and document gathering (2 to 3 months): Before submitting the Single Permit application, the worker's foreign qualification must undergo formal equivalency testing. Gathering police clearance certificates, medical checks, and sworn translations of diplomas also takes time.
Stage 2: Single Permit processing (3 to 4 months): By Belgian law, authorities have up to 120 days to render a decision on a complete Single Permit file. In practice, missing documents or regional backlogs can extend this window.
Stage 3: Visa D issuance (2 to 4 weeks): Once the Single Permit approval (Annex 46 or authorization to work) is issued, the candidate presents it to the Belgian embassy or consulate in their home country to obtain a long-stay Visa D.
Stage 4: Travel and municipal registration (1 to 2 weeks): Upon arriving in Belgium, the worker must register at their local town hall (commune / gemeente) within eight working days to receive their electronic A-card residence permit.

Wages, collective bargaining, and regulated qualifications

Belgian labor law enforces strict pay floors and working conditions. You cannot pay a foreign worker less than a local worker in the same role, and the salary proposed in the employment contract must meet statutory and sector-specific requirements.

Childcare workers in institutional settings are governed by specific Joint Committees (Paritair Comité - PC):

PC 331 (Flanders & German-speaking community): Covers welfare and child health services. Salary scales (barema's) depend heavily on qualification level and years of recognized experience.
PC 318 or PC 330 (Brussels & Wallonia): Covers home care, private sector daycare, and health services.

For entry-level childcare assistants or qualified child supporters (kinderbegeleider), gross monthly salaries typically start between €2,200 and €2,600 for a full-time 38-hour week, depending on the applicable collective bargaining agreement. Private nannies employed directly by households fall under domestic worker rules (PC 323 or direct household employer registration), where statutory minimum pay floors apply alongside strict social security registration via Securx or Dimona.

Regarding qualifications, Belgium strictly regulates early childhood education. Candidates must have their foreign diploma recognized by the competent regional body:

Flanders: NARIC-Vlaanderen handles academic and professional equivalency.
French Community (Brussels/Wallonia): Service des Équivalences de l'Enseignement obligatoire or Service des Équivalences de l'Enseignement supérieur handles evaluation.

In addition, candidates working in Flemish childcare must demonstrate certified proficiency in Dutch (typically level B2 or B1 depending on the exact role), as required by Opgroeien. Candidates working in French-language facilities must meet language standards set by ONE.

Belgian employers in this sector do not customarily provide free housing, except in specialized live-in nanny arrangements. However, offering short-term temporary housing assistance or covering initial rental deposit arrangements is highly practical to help non-EU workers settle successfully.

What this costs you, roughly

Hiring a non-EU worker involves administrative and setup costs that fall on the employer. Below is a breakdown of realistic financial obligations:

Federal administrative fee (retribution): €144 to €363 (paid to DVZ to process the residence portion of the application).
Qualification recognition fees: €90 to €200 per diploma application (payable to NARIC or the French Community Equivalences service).
Document translation and legalization: €200 to €600 (sworn translations and apostilles for foreign diplomas, birth records, and police clearances).
Inbound travel expenses: €400 to €1,200 (one-way flight or travel ticket to Belgium, customarily covered by hiring companies).
Initial settlement or housing support: €1,000 to €2,500 (optional but recommended assistance with temporary accommodation or rental deposits).

Finding candidates ethically and preventing recruitment fraud

Finding foreign candidates requires direct outreach, reputable educational partnerships, or specialized international placement channels. When evaluating non-EU candidates, check their language skills and original educational transcripts during early interview stages to avoid spending months on equivalency applications that may ultimately be rejected by Belgian authorities.

You must maintain strict ethical standards throughout the recruitment process. Under Belgian labor law and international recruitment standards, a legitimate employer never asks a job applicant or worker to pay for their own recruitment, work permit application, or placement fees. Legitimate administrative costs, visa processing fees, and recruitment expenses are the sole responsibility of the employer.

Workers who are asked to pay upfront money, purchase fraudulent job offers, or finance their own Single Permits are victims of recruitment fraud and potential human trafficking. Engaging with intermediaries who charge jobseekers fees exposes your organization to severe legal penalties, liability under Belgian social inspection laws (Sociale Inspectie / Contrôle des lois sociales), and catastrophic reputational damage.

Searching the Workuro registry for childcare candidates

If you have decided to look outside the EU for childcare staff or private nannies, you can search the Workuro registry. Workuro is an open registry where workers abroad publish profiles expressing their interest in moving to Belgium and other European countries.

Workuro is not a recruitment agency, does not charge per-hire commissions, and does not act as an intermediary in employment contracts. As an employer, you pay for access to the registry, search for profiles matching your specific language and educational criteria, and contact candidates directly to conduct interviews and initiate hiring procedures yourself.

Our registry is young and still growing. You will not find hundreds of thousands of pre-vetted candidates; rather, you will find a developing pool of motivated individuals who have stated their intention to relocate. You remain responsible for evaluating their qualifications, verifying their language proficiency against Opgroeien or ONE standards, and handling the Belgian Single Permit application process with your regional authorities.