Is it difficult for a Canadian national to receive a work and residency permits? Can anyone advise me what to do first, apply for a job as a tourist or first register for permanent residency. how does it work? I will arrive in Belgium soon as a tourist, and then how to apply to stay there.....this issue is very important to me. Can anyone help? :?

Unfortunately, as a Canadian, you CAN NOT arrive here as a tourist and look for work. You also have no right to simply arrive and apply for permanent residence.

In order to obtain a work permit for you, the Belgian company would have to prove that they could not find any suitable Belgians or citizens of ANY EU member state to do the job. Needless to say, this is a difficult process. Even if you did find a company willing to sponsor you, and their application was successful, you need to be in Canada while this is being done and have a Type D visa issued by the Belgian authorities before coming to Belgium.

You can get some more information by using the visa wizard here: http://www.diplomatie.be/en/travel/visa/visumNodig.asp

Thank you kindly!! :shock: