Moving to Belgium as an Expat

Welcome to our website,

This topic has already been discussed many times.  Please read the old articles that you can filter through the magnifying glass next to your avatar.

How can we say if your salary is acceptable? We don't know your experience...

Hello, I can give you some information from my point of view and experience from Belgium.

1.if you have any suggestions or will it be good to move to Belgium from Singapore as an Expat. What are the chances of permanent residence
-->  it depends on your choice and condition in Singapore. As of now, what I know from my friend who is also in SG, the SG ministry is not providing permanent residence or citizenship (or atleast very difficult to get). But the net salary is still good though expenses are also high. In my view, you will be able to save more in SG than in Belgium. and yes, you will be able to get permanent residence easily in Belgium after 5 continuous working years (considering you are NONEU).

More info :
https://www.commissioner.brussels/en/i- … an-90-dayshttps://www.thebulletin.be/type-b-card- … apply-2020

2.What will be the lifestyle possible for the netpay.
-->> I'm also in IT working as devops engineer/cloud architect. Your pay is quite good comapred to me ,honestly. Net pay of 3500/- is really good and can give you pretty good lifestyle (car,good apartment in the locality, food). Offcourse, hiring a domestic help is quite expensive (9-10€/hr) in belgium and usually difficult as compared to singapure.
3.What will be the shared accomodation / private housing cost
--> in your salary , you can easily get anything. Shared accom- +/- 500-700 , private housing is +/- 800-1100 in Brussels.
4.What will be cost of food per month eating outside.
-->  Eating outside is expensive in Belgium compared to singapure. Usually, when we as a couple eatoutside, €30-40 averagely spent. you can check more on goodle.
5.What will be the cost of food per month preparing food at home.
--> Cheap. We are 2 and mostly eat at home. Monthly grocery expense around €300 or less.
6.Which location is best to relocate and safe.
--> Brussels is quite safe. Try to be away in night from the shady areas. You can consider some areas relatively having more expats like Merode, Evere, Montogomery 
7.Is it possible to switch jobs and get higher salary to 4000 Euros net pay ?
--> Switching jobs might not get you higher salary like you do in SG. I would be happy to know if it canbe. But yes, in many cases companies give  hike but high taxes deduct the most part of hike.
8.Which is the forum to search for job
--> I have used mostly LinkedIN. I would advise to first come in Belgium, stay here couple of years in one company, understand the work culture and integrate and then look up for other job.
Work culture in Belgium is quite good and relaxing compared to Asian countries(IMHO).