Interrupted period but not dismissed from the national register

Hello everyone,

I have a question about premanent residency in Belgium. I have been living in belgium for more than five years. I came to Belgium as a research scientist with a visa issued from the embassy of Belgium in Italy. However there was an interruption in my residency for about 10 months however I was having an address while waiting for my professional card ( work permit (self-employed) to be issued by the economic and work department. It took longer than I expected and then I went out of EU for the mentioned period and came back with a visa after I got my professional card issued.

I email the commune and one told me you can apply for D card since you were not dismissed from the national register and another one told me you can't apply.

My questions:
1. If approach again the commune, can I request to apply for either the D card or the B card ?
2. Does the interruption mean in interruption between the A cards issuance?

thanks

Hello,

an interrupt means that you have a gap in your resident permits: you've been removed from the foreigner register at the commune / card expired.

As long as you told the commune that you'd be abroad Belgium (10 months), you're """fine""" as you've been living in Belgium for more than 5 years.
If you didn't told them, then you can have problems.

I mean you could justify it because of the pandemic as a case of force-majeur, and couldn't come back because of the covid, but they might be a bit more annoying that they should. Just be prepared to justify that you didn't lost your interest in staying in Belgium.

Thank you Alex for replying. Unfortunately I didnt inform them before leaving therefore I will have problems as you mentioned. I left and hoping to come back before my card expired. But it expired while I am abroad and then came back with the visa D.