Register in Commune

It can depend its sometimes a long process Ive been waiting a week although mine isnt in Brussels I knew someone is brussels and theres took 7 months

Hello Thanks.

Seven months....... ohhh its too much..

Anyway I have applied two weeks back. I will see my luck

Yeah i think its quicker if your rom EU but in my case they check that your family arnt registered here the police comes and visits etc

It took almost a year and a half for mine, but part of that was waiting for them to process my husband (who is an EU citizen!). His took like 6-7mos, then my part took like 9 mos.

Also melby were you guys able to leave the country while they were processing it I have another friends whos been told she cant

Ya Get, right thing you have said... can anyone let me know whether we can travel outside belgium without residence card?

otherwise with the acknowedgement letter from the commune.

I live in Brussels 1000 and haven't registered with the commune as of yet. I have already traveled to France and did not have any problems getting in and out of the country.

I plan to register with the commune next week, but I also heard that it will take a while to get the registration card. By the time I get it, I will already leave the country.

If you don't have any other visa/permissions to be here, then no, you shouldn't leave the country. If you're still within the time limit of, for instance, a tourist visa, then that's fine, as you're allowed to travel with that. But if your visa has expired (and you are not an EU citizen or such) then no, you cannot travel, as you have nothing stating you are allowed back in.

Granted, within Schengen, you can move about by train and you shouldn't experience any issues, but it's best not to press one's luck.

For myself, I could travel in the EU without a problem because I am married to an EU citizen. EU law states that it is not allowed for them to keep a husband & wife apart, therefore I could legally return by letting them know we were married & live here.

TChantel, what is it that you're doing over here?

I am a fellow working for a company. I am here in Brussels on a work permit, and I am also still well within time limits of my Type-D Visa. I made sure not to press my luck.

Yeah but I need to cross channel makes it a little harder I think I might just go to police stattion to ask. I have no probems traveling about rest of europe however

@KBalaji

When I moved over to Belgium and registered at the town hall, I was issued with a paper document with my name, address and photograph as a means of identification until the E Card ID was eventually issued to me.

The visit off the Police was done pretty prompt (within a week) but I had to wait the best part of a year for the actual E Card ID to be issued to me.

Could you go back to the UK as often as you like. As due to eu laws u can but then again people say that they cant etc have u ever had a issue

@Hannah

No, I had no problems with return visits to the UK and nobody at the town hall mentioned anything about not being able to leave the country.

If they had, I would have told them to get stuffed!

I'm more than sure that you just can't go around legally restricting someone's liberty unless of course they've been arrested by the Police for either having committed a crime or being under suspicion of committing a crime!

(*note* for those people completely devoid of having any sense of humour, the above statement about liberty was only a sarcastic joke!)

True thanks just as ive travels to and from Belguim a lot already

Balesy, it is nothing to do with "restricting someone's liberty," for one thing staying inside a country is not like you arelocked up, but regardless it is because if people are not EU citizens they do not legally have the right to just go traveling around Europe, not unless they have some other visa, like I said. It's not because the Belgian govt is restraining anyone, it is because if those people leave, they will have no documents that allow them to return to the country.

Hannah, you are an EU citizen, so yes, of course you are able to move freely between the UK and Belgium, you do not need any residency things to be able to come here, nothing is stopping you. It is only for people who otherwise have no legal right to enter the country that they cannot leave it.

Yeah but there was a post on here saying someone was told they were told they werent allowed bk into Belgium after 6 months

Ok i miss read it orginally It was an american who travels from Belgium to Uk and bk to Belgium and I guess they just always question me to make sure

Melby wrote:

people are not EU citizens they do not legally have the right to just go traveling around Europe, not unless they have some other visa

Ok Melby, can I just point out I was being bitterly sarcastic and making reference to myself and my personal situation and not including all those people who are in Belgium who are not EU citizens.

By the way, you don't have to go to the trouble of highlighting certain words in another font to get your point across, I do understand the English language perfectly well.

Thank you.

Well I have been told today I am not really saposed to leave Belgium while they process my ap and it can take 5 months

@Hannah

I went to the commune today and enquired about travelling out of Belgium. Yes you can travel to EU states with the acknolwedgement letter if you have D type Visa untill your visa validity expires.

I dont have a Visa though becouse im from UK I have a letter saying im being registered but the city hall said im not saposed to leave untill its done may be incase they want to see me

You wouldn't be required to go there at a moment's notice though, as long as you aren't leaving for an extended time (say, more than a week or so) it really should not make any difference.

I Guess ill just sit tight and go see my fam after xmas and not before I dont no why I have to stay but he said i should. But then again the city hall here isnt the best

@Hannah

I went back to the UK for Xmas and New Year whilst my application was being processed, I just informed the admin centre that I'd already bought the tickets and was heading back over the channel for a couple of weeks to see my family and would return in the new year.

The Belgians love their holidays, so I can't see anyone from the town hall working during the Xmas holidays especially just to process your residency documents.

Yeah but I was going to Nov as a early exmas as i didnt wanna risk the snow

Hannah,

I just visited the UK last week and I haven't received my Belgian resident card as of yet. The police officer, who checked my passport, told me to just make sure I have that authorization letter with me since I don't have my resident card. I'm going back to the UK tomorrow and I don't expect any problems, but you never know. From what I've seen they really don't make a big deal out of it.

Mind you, I applied for residency back in September and I haven't received the card yet.

@Tchant,

Please check your police verification is over. Until this is over the process cannot move forward. For me the PC verification is ov er and i am wating for a letter(invitation) for the resident card. So are you saying we can go out from Belgium to any EU countries even after the visa expires, if we have the letter of registration from the commune?

Mine is expiring on Dec.

KBalaji, if you are not an EU citizen, then no, that would be risky.

TChantel, it takes quite a while. Bureaucracy is slow.

Hi T Chantel I got my letter to say I can travel I went down and asked for one and they made me one there and then. So i go to england Saturday to see some friends which is nice. I have my Resident card allmost just another week or 2 its made just waiting got the Puke code I have had a friend who isnt from EU and waited over a year for hers.

I have a different dilemma, hope someone has answer to it.

1. I am a potential expat moving to Brussels in around two months on a long term work permit.
2. As it is generally believed, it is extremely difficult to find an apartment within 8 days and I will need to stay in the hotel till such time I get one.
3. Now, I will need to go to the local commune (where the hotel is) to register within 8 days.
4. From the forum I am understanding that it may take few months to get the Resident Card.

Does that mean that I will need to live in the same hotel till then or can I move to a different commune area if I find a good apartment ? What happens to the Resident card process that started but did not finish ?

KBal, no I'm saying with your visa and authorization letter you can travel into the UK. If you travel outside of Belgium with an expired visa, they may not let you back into the country, or in worse cases, deport you. I totally would not take that chance.

Hi Kart. It isn't that hard to find an apartment, it all depends on your budget and where you are trying to live. When I first arrived to Brussels I stayed in a hotel for a couple of days, and I already had my resident address because I booked the apartment before I got here. In order to fix the housing problem, I would suggest going to www.homeinbrussels.com or browsing other "aparthotel" websites. Hope that helps!

Kartikeym

where is your work place? I could suggest some areas or communes to live in?

Yes you are supposed to register within 8 days and if you take an aparthotel in one commune, once you secure permanent accommodation, if it is in a different commune, you will have to re-commence the process. If you were an EU national, I would simply say don't bother registering with the commune within 8 days, find a place to live and only register then, saying you had just arrived in Belgium. However as you are Indian, it will be obvious to those at the commune when you arrive as it will be stamped in your passport (in theory, in practice Schengen countries are not very consistent with their outer borders and checking passengers arriving). So it might be an idea to guess the most likely place you are going to live and try and take an aparthotel in that commune, to avoid registering 2 times - if you do this an in fact only move to permanent accommodation within the same commune, the paperwork for changing address will be minimal. You will read terrible stories about registering in Bruxelles 1000 so may be a good idea to avoid living there. In our commune, WSP, you can register without any queuing and the service is very efficient.

Homeinbrussels is indeed one of the cheapest agent for aparthotels, you can barter down their prices too. They have accommodation in several communes.

Hi TChantel and schoolmum,

I am already overwhelmed by the speed of your responses !!!

I will be looking to live in Watermael/Boitsfort (1170), since the International School of Brussels is located there (where I would be looking to get my kids enrolled). As suggested by TChantel, I went through the website and found one Studio option there. One question on that, can a family of 4 (Kids of 15 and 6 years) legally live in a studio apartment ?

My work location will be Halle (1500). I figured that there is adequate connectivity from Watermael / Boondael stations.  I would rather travel myself than live far from the school.

eagerly awaiting more suggestions .....

Kartikey

Well you obviously have done your homework well to know about the train connection from Boondaal to Hal which takes 18 minutes (go for near Boondaal as Watermael is on a different train line and no direct trains to Hal from there). Have you thought about an alternative of Waterloo? There is St John's school there, you take the train from Waterloo to St Job and change for Hal, the journey is 30 to 40 minutes?

Or have you thought about living more centrally in Brussels and your children going to BSB? The only place I would consider is around Montgomery, as the 44 tram goes directly to BSB in under 30 minutes and the train from Mérode ( short walk from Montgomery roundabout) goes directly to Hal in 25 minutes. Living around Montgomery gives you the choice of other international schools for your 6 year old too - there are several in the vicinity and in walking distance, then your 15 year old could go to BSB where they do A levels as well as IB and could travel independently on the tram.

But have you not considered a local school for your 6 year old? It's a perfect age to add a 2nd language. We have 2 families of Indian nationals in our local school - one has 2 children now aged 6 and 8 and they have been at school one year and one term. They now speak French, English, Hindi and another language spoken in Keralia, their French is really really good. A local school where there are plenty of international families would be best, where the children speak many different languages in the class.

If you considered instead BSB and around Montgomery, that's 3 different communes - Woluwe St Pierre, Etterbeek, Woluwe St Lambert, they all have a good selection of aparthotels - the 2 Woluwes are very good efficient with registering so even if you change communes, it won't be so painful moving from there. There is not so much around Watermael-Boitsfort in terms of aparthotels but it's a little cheaper living there than the Woluwes.

If HomeinBrussels are happy for you to be in the studio flat, then you are allowed!

If you are after a 3 bed apartment or house, I'd stick to a limit of 1200 euro a month if on a budget, even in the most expensive areas, this budget is possible. For apartments, factor in any service charges and make sure you know what they are for, sometimes it's just utilities and that's fine, sometimes it's for gardening and cleaning of communal areas, if that is the case, don't be taken advantage of. Always barter down rents. Don't trust any estate agents, especially if they refuse to give you address of accommodation you have seen on Immoweb or if they say everything you want to look at is already rented and then try and show you something else, they are probably lying and trying to offload crap accommodation on you as a new arrival.

In Watermael-Boitsfort, if you do think of local schooling for your 6 year old, I highly recommend La Sainte Famille and Assomption schools, avoid Les Cedres/La Roseraie and Pres des Agneaux (actually in Auderghem but serves part of Watermael), all other Watermael-Boitsfort schools are fine.

All international schools in greater Brussels
http://batchgeo.com/map/0777fe5f939fe09 … 91ceee1066

Most primaires in Brussels (a few missing)
http://batchgeo.com/map/6972012203999a3 … fb2902bcb7

If you use these 2 schools maps, you might find them useful when choosing where to live.

Hi Schoolmum,

Thanks a lot for another great reply.

I had thought about Waterloo also, but after due consideration did not pursue it further for two reasons, one that St. John's is full and they are not admitting now and second, although there is train connection between Waterloo and Halle, it is difficult after certain hours, and I am expected to be late from office and then it would be problem. I have thought of all combinations and that is the reason Watermael is more attractive choice.

You are very right in suggesting BSB as a choice coupled with living near Montgomery / Merode stations and I have started thinking seriously about that. There is a friend of mine living in Etterbeek and I will talk to him regarding this.

I am not sure yet if I want to put my 6 years old in a different school than his sister, but yes, you have a very valid point that he will pick up French as well. Both my kids are very good in English (thanks to last 4 years they spent in US) and having French as third language will give him lot of advantages later in his career.

And thanks a for very solid and practical advise about the estate agents, I will be careful.

Regards,
Kartikey

At both BSB and ISB, the primary/elementary schools and secondary/high schools are in separate buildings and their timetables are different so you children will rarely see each other at school. Your 15 year old will not need to be taken to school, it will be good for her to do the journey without a parent and both schools are well served by public transport.

There are some terrific local French schools around, usually their buildings and facilities cannot match either ISB or BSB. If you put your son there, he would be able to access the plentiful after-school activities, many of which happen on wednesday afternoons which means ISB and BSB children cannot access them. There are however several international primary only level English schools near Montgomery - BJAB, BISB, BEPS (first 2 with quite a few Indian nationals) plus cheaper international bilingual schools Acacia and BICS (both quite Catholic).

At BSB at least, from September 2012 there will be bilingual French-English classes from age 4 to age 9 and by 2014 to age 11. I wouldn't say a 6 year old would become truly bilingual after a year, certainly at a slower speed than at a French only school, but ISB don't have any bilingual classes. There are also many more extra-curricular activities in BSB that are free than at ISB which has more paying extra-curricular activities. There is a large Indian student population in BSB, although quite a few are local "indians" who live in Antwerp and whose parents are employed in the diamond trade. I know this also sounds very stereotyping, but BSB is the only place an under 14 year old can play cricket in the greater Brussels area I believe.

Finally, there isn't really a particular favourite spot for Indians to live in Brussels, but there are quite a few living in Etterbeek, plus Bengalis/Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, so there are a few Indian subcontinent stores in the area.

Etterbeek / western areas of WSL and WSP are very lively though and built-up, unlike Watermael-Boitsfort which is very suburbia. Lots of choice of accommodation around Etterbeek / western WSL and WSP. Great access to the city centre,  near the forest too so you can get some quiet, it's a great place to live.