Household staff for families in Belgium, selected in Spain
Brussels, Antwerp and Knokke
Live-in housekeepers, Spanish-speaking nannies and domestic couples for EU officials, diplomats and families in Uccle, Woluwe and Ixelles, the Antwerp villa belt and the Knokke coast. Brussels is where the Spanish-speaking households are, and where most of our Belgian work sits; we explain the single permit and the employer's obligations before you start.
- Placement agency licensed by the SNE, no. 1300000318
- 4.8 · 79 Google reviews
- One-off fee · 6-month guarantee
Why families in Belgium hire live-in staff through a Spanish agency
Brussels is a city of people who have just arrived from somewhere else: officials of the European institutions, diplomats, NATO staff and the executives who follow them. A large share of them are Spanish or Latin American, or lived in Madrid before the posting, and they want at home what they had there: a housekeeper who runs the house and speaks Spanish to the children, or a nanny who keeps the language alive while school happens in French or English. That fit — a Madrid-trained housekeeper for a household that has just moved from Madrid — is what makes the Belgian searches work.
The Belgian market is strong in hourly help through the titres-services system and thin in live-in staff with references anyone has called. Antwerp adds old Flemish families and the diamond trade, with villas in Brasschaat and Schilde that want a couple; Knokke adds the coast, houses used at weekends and in summer by families from Brussels and Antwerp who want them ready when they arrive.
For an EU candidate Belgium is a free move with a family that registers as employer; for a non-EU candidate the single permit route exists but is regional, slow and rarely granted for household work. We say so before we start, and we present EU-passport holders for Belgium as a rule.
Brussels, Antwerp and Knokke
The European capital and its residential communes, the Flemish city and its villa belt, and the coast where Belgian families spend their weekends.
Brussels
Uccle, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Ixelles and the avenues around the European quarter and the international schools; also Rhode-Saint-Genèse and Lasne just outside the region. Brussels is where most of our Belgian families live: EU officials, diplomats and NATO staff who want a Spanish-speaking live-in housekeeper or nanny.
Antwerp
Brasschaat, Schilde and 's-Gravenwezel north and east of the city, villas with grounds owned by Flemish families and the international diamond community. The request here is a domestic couple, or a housekeeper with a driver, living in a staff house on the property.
Knokke
Het Zoute and the villas along the dunes, used at weekends and through July and August by families from Brussels and Antwerp. A caretaker couple all year who opens and runs the house, or a housekeeper who travels with the family from Brussels, is how these houses are staffed.
The profiles families in Belgium ask us for
Housekeepers and nannies in Brussels, a couple for Antwerp and the coast.
Live-in housekeeper
Runs a Brussels house or apartment, laundry and cooking; French or English for the household, Spanish with the children in many of the families we serve.
Spanish-speaking nanny
For EU and diplomatic families with children in the European and international schools; first aid, school runs and a language kept alive at home.
Domestic couple
For Antwerp villas and Knokke houses with a staff flat: housekeeper and houseman-driver keeping the property and opening it for the family.
House manager
For families whose Brussels posting comes with entertaining and several homes to coordinate: staff, suppliers, travel and the calendar.
Permits and rules for household staff in Belgium
Belgium applies EU free movement and, for non-EU workers staying more than 90 days, a single permit requested by the employer from the Region where the work is done. Domestic work is regular employment declared to the social security office.
EU/EEA/Swiss candidates: no permit, registration with the commune
A Spanish or other EU candidate takes up the job with her passport and registers with the commune of residence within three months, presenting the employment contract, to obtain her registration certificate and national number. No quota, no labour-market test.
Non-EU candidates: the single permit, granted by the Region
A third-country national working in Belgium for more than 90 days needs a single permit (permis unique / gecombineerde vergunning) combining residence and work. The employer files the work-authorisation request with the competent Region, Brussels-Capital, Flanders or Wallonia, depending on where the work is done; the Region decides the work part and the Immigration Office the residence part, within a legal maximum of four months for a complete file. Household employment is not a shortage occupation, so the Region examines whether the role could be filled locally; a Filipino candidate resident in Spain follows this route and rarely obtains it. Her Spanish permit does not transfer.
Employer obligations and minimum income
The family registers as employer with the ONSS/RSZ social security office and declares the employee (Dimona) before the first day; domestic workers living in the home have full social security cover in Belgium. The guaranteed minimum monthly income (RMMMG, collective agreement no. 43) is the floor for a full-time employee, around €2,230 gross per month after the 2026 indexations, to be checked on the Federal Public Service Employment's site at the time of hiring. The contract states board, lodging, hours and rest days.
Who employs, and under which law
The employer is the family, in the country where the home is. We are a placement agency: we select and present, we are neither the employer nor a temp agency, so the Posting of Workers Directive (written for companies) does not apply. The contract is governed by the law of the place where the work is habitually done, even if the parties choose another (Rome I Regulation, art. 8).
Social security: the destination country's
The general rule of Regulation (EC) 883/2004 (art. 11(3)(a)) is to contribute where you work. The exception is a temporary posting (art. 12): a family resident in Spain that takes an employee already hired here may keep her in the Spanish system for up to 24 months with the A1 certificate issued by the TGSS, if the conditions are met. Otherwise the registration is done in the destination country.
Data protection when sending profiles
Profiles travel with the candidate's informed consent. Within the EEA there is no international transfer; to Switzerland, the UK and Andorra there is, covered by a European Commission adequacy decision (GDPR arts. 44-45). Monaco has no adequacy decision: we rely on appropriate safeguards or the explicit consent of art. 49.
Checked on 12 September 2026 against Brussels Economy and Employment (work authorisations and the single permit), the Immigration Office (dofi.ibz.be), EUR-Lex and the European Commission adequacy list; the RMMMG figure is from the 2026 indexation notices and should be confirmed on emploi.belgique.be.
What you need to know before starting, not legal advice: each case is confirmed by the family with its adviser or the country's authorities. We keep these notes reviewed and tell you what we have checked and where.
Languages, currency and cost of living
French and Dutch; English everywhere in the international community
Brussels households work in French or English; Antwerp and Knokke in Dutch, but the families we serve rarely require it from staff.
Euro (EUR)
No exchange risk on the salary or on our fee.
Moderate for a capital; Uccle and Knokke property expensive
Live-in accommodation in Uccle or a Knokke villa is a real part of the package and is stated in the contract.
ONSS/RSZ, Dimona declaration by the family before the first day
Belgium extended full social security cover to domestic workers living in; thirteenth-month and holiday pay follow the sector rules.
Around €2,230 gross per month minimum, full-time (RMMMG, 2026, to be confirmed)
Guaranteed minimum income after the 2026 indexations, per the sector notices; confirm the exact figure on the FPS Employment site. The families we serve pay experienced live-in staff above it; the market range is agreed case by case and we give it to you with the quote.
Figure pending confirmation from an official sourceRMMMG per collective agreement no. 43 of the National Labour Council, indexed automatically; verify the current amount on emploi.belgique.be before hiring.
A Belgian placement, step by step
For EU candidates Belgium is a short flight and a well-organised employer system; our Brussels families are often Spanish, so the interviews run much as they would in Madrid.
Brief and status check
We confirm the candidate holds an EU passport in practice and define the role: live-in hours, rest days, the languages of the house and the school, and whether a couple or a single housekeeper fits the property.
Selection in Spain
Interviews in Madrid or by video, references called, and a frank talk about Belgian weather, a household that moves with a posting and children in the European schools.
Video interviews and trial
From your client portal; Brussels families often meet the finalist on a trip to Madrid, and Antwerp or Knokke owners bring a couple to the house for two days.
Contract, Dimona and move
Written contract at or above the minimum income with board and lodging stated, ONSS registration and Dimona declaration by the family before the first day, commune registration on arrival, and a start date around the notice period in Spain.
One-off fee and a 6-month guarantee, outside Spain too
You pay nothing during the search. Only once you take the person on and you're happy do you pay a single fee: the equivalent of one month of the agreed salary, plus VAT where applicable depending on where the job is. No subscriptions or lock-in.
One-off fee: one month's salary (+ VAT where applicable)
A single payment, only once you take the person on. We confirm the exact amount upfront, in euros or in your country's currency.
6-month guarantee
Replacement at no cost if the person isn't the right fit, and a 50% refund of the fee if you're not satisfied during the first month.
Relocation and trial
The family covers the relocation trip; before that you can interview by video and, if you travel to Spain or the candidate to your city, run a two-day trial.
Hiring household staff in Belgium from Spain
No. EU citizens work in Belgium without a permit. She registers with the commune within three months with the employment contract and obtains her national number, which the family needs for the Dimona declaration.
Only with a single permit requested by the family from the Region where the work is done, decided within a legal maximum of four months and examined against the local labour market; household work is not a shortage occupation. Her Spanish permit does not transfer. We are frank that this route rarely succeeds.
Yes. The family registers as employer with the ONSS/RSZ and declares the employee through Dimona before the first day. Domestic workers living in have full social security cover, unlike the hourly titres-services system, which goes through a licensed company.
The guaranteed minimum monthly income (RMMMG), around €2,230 gross per month for a full-time employee after the 2026 indexations, to be confirmed on the FPS Employment site. Live-in staff for the families we serve are paid above it.
Yes, it is our most frequent Belgian request: officials and diplomats who want Spanish kept alive at home while school happens in French or English. We present nannies with first aid and references we have called.
NanniesFor an EU candidate, first profiles in days and a start date usually four to six weeks after your decision, allowing for the notice period in Spain and the move. The family's Dimona declaration takes minutes.
Pages families in Belgium also read
Looking for live-in staff for a home in Belgium?
Tell us the commune, the role and the date. We answer with what the rules allow, the salary floor and the first profiles.