diff --git a/tests/e2e/registration.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/registration.spec.ts
index bb88e78..e4182b7 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/registration.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/registration.spec.ts
@@ -59,12 +59,32 @@ test('DigiD submit → public INGEDIEND → documenten → behandelaar goedkeurt
   await expect(staff.getByRole('row', { name: reference }).getByRole('cell', { name: 'INGEDIEND' }))
     .toBeVisible();
 
+  // A behandelaar opens the behandel-portal werkbak and approves the registration (goedkeuren) — the
+  // S-12 flow that replaces the temporary admin endpoint. The staff tab switches to the medewerker
+  // realm (a different Keycloak realm than the citizen's digid session).
+  //
+  // The werkbak is opened BEFORE the citizen supplies the documents that route the registration to
+  // Beoordelen, so its row cannot be there at page load: the only thing that can deliver it to this
+  // already-open page is the werkbak refreshing itself (S-26/#162, ADR-0032). This spec used to
+  // `staff.reload()` in a poll loop here; the absence of that reload is the live-refresh assertion.
+  await staff.goto('http://behandel/');
+  // That realm enforces MFA (S-15c), so the behandelaar logs in with password + TOTP.
+  await loginMedewerker(staff, 'merel-behandelaar');
+
+  await expect(staff.getByRole('heading', { name: /Werkbak/i })).toBeVisible();
+
+  // Target the decide button by reference (not a generic "Goedkeuren"): the shared verify stack holds
+  // other open tasks, so a positional match could act on someone else's registration.
+  const goedkeuren = staff.getByRole('button', { name: `Goedkeuren ${reference}` });
+  await expect(goedkeuren, 'the registration is not awaiting beoordeling yet').toBeHidden();
+
   // Provide the documents the registration is waiting for (S-10a), on the still-open self-service tab.
   // The process parks at WachtOpDocumenten only after the zaak is opened; the INGEDIEND row above proves
   // the zaak exists — so the OpenZaak worker has completed and the process is now at the wait — which is
   // why we supply the documents here rather than right after submit, when the trigger would race the
   // wait and no-op. (S-10b turns this into a real file upload; here it is the trigger that unblocks
   // beoordeling.)
+  await page.bringToFront();
   await page.setInputFiles('#diploma', {
     name: 'diploma.pdf',
     mimeType: 'application/pdf',
@@ -73,22 +93,10 @@ test('DigiD submit → public INGEDIEND → documenten → behandelaar goedkeurt
   await page.getByRole('button', { name: /documenten aanleveren/i }).click();
   await expect(page.getByText(/documenten zijn aangeleverd/i)).toBeVisible();
 
-  // A behandelaar picks the registration up in the behandel-portal werkbak and approves it (goedkeuren)
-  // — the S-12 flow that replaces the temporary admin endpoint. The staff tab switches to the
-  // medewerker realm (a different Keycloak realm than the citizen's digid session).
-  await staff.goto('http://behandel/');
-  // That realm enforces MFA (S-15c), so the behandelaar logs in with password + TOTP.
-  await loginMedewerker(staff, 'merel-behandelaar');
-
-  await expect(staff.getByRole('heading', { name: /Werkbak/i })).toBeVisible();
-
-  // The registration reaches the Beoordelen user task only after its documents are provided (above),
-  // so it appears in the werkbak asynchronously. Since S-26 (#162) the werkbak refreshes itself, so
-  // this waits on the row WITHOUT reloading the page — the reload here is what the slice removes, and
-  // its absence is the live-refresh assertion. Target the decide button by reference (not a generic
-  // "Goedkeuren"): the shared verify stack holds other open tasks, so a positional match could act on
-  // someone else's registration.
-  const goedkeuren = staff.getByRole('button', { name: `Goedkeuren ${reference}` });
+  // Back to the werkbak — untouched since login, never reloaded. The row arrives on its own once the
+  // DMN routes the registration to Beoordelen. (Foregrounded so Chromium doesn't throttle the page's
+  // refresh timer as a hidden tab.)
+  await staff.bringToFront();
   await expect(goedkeuren).toBeVisible({ timeout: 30_000 });
 
   // Click and wait for the decide POST to finish (204) BEFORE leaving the page. `click()` only