Returning from an expat mission

The moment you set foot on Belgian soil again is rarely spectacular: neither violin music nor a sense of coming home, as you might see in the movies. It’s the rather unspectacular details that catch your eye: the smell of rain on asphalt, a delayed train, someone with whom you instinctively strike up a conversation in Dutch (or French). Then, somewhere between recognition and alienation, you realise: I’m back.

But what does ‘coming back’ mean?

Between two worlds

If you’ve lived abroad for years, you don’t return to the same country you once left. Belgium has changed just as you’re no longer the same person. You’ve learnt to find your way into distant lands with different systems, foreign languages and other ways of life. Your identity is more cosmopolitan, your horizons have broadened. Returning doesn’t mean picking up where you left off, but rather finding your place, once again, in a world that feels both familiar and foreign.

The Real World

You have the inevitable practical side of returning besides the emotional aspect: dealing with the authorities, registering, and looking for work and accommodation. Tasks that seem manageable until you have to tackle them.

Many ‘returnees’ have the same questions: How do I re-enrol in the Belgian social security system? What happens to the entitlements I’ve built up? How quickly will I be ‘insured’ again if something happens?

Those who stayed insured with the OSS during their stay abroad often discover that this transition goes smoothly. The continuity built up so far remains effective even after your return, as the OSS cover links seamlessly and without any waiting period to the Belgian system. This helps ease some uncertainty at a time when enough is already changing. However, you still face another challenge: reorganising your life itself.

A new professional challenge?

Professionally speaking, the return rarely goes in a straight line. Sometimes a job is already waiting for you, but far more often you will start looking for work. International experience is valued, but it isn’t always easy to transfer to the Belgian labour market. Things that were taken for granted in one country need to be explained from scratch here. You might find this unsettling, but it can also feel refreshing. The distance often gives you a clearer perspective on what you want.

How do you reconnect?

The social aspect of returning is the most underestimated. You return to familiar faces, but life hasn’t stood still for them either. Friendships need to find their place again. Some relationships deepen immediately, as if time had had no effect on them. Others feel more distant and you need to revitalise them. Family, too, takes on a different role. Physical proximity may be back, but all members must find a new balance together. You are no longer the same person who once left, and the same applies to the people who stayed behind.

What remains

Maybe the most important realisation: ‘Coming back’ doesn’t mean becoming the person you once were. It’s more like a fresh start. You take away something from every country you’ve lived in. Those experiences aren’t lost when you start out again in Belgium. They remain – sometimes visible, sometimes in the background. And little by little, something new emerges: a sense of home that isn’t tied to a place.

Would you like to share your travel experiences?

Are you an expat or do you know someone with an inspiring experience abroad? Please don't hesitate to contact us at overseas-expat@onssrszlss.fgov.be. And who knows, you might inspire future expats with your story.