Dear All,
I am living in Belgium since 6 years with family (wife and kids). In order to apply for a Belgian citizenship, the people in my city hall suggested to wait till 7 years (one more year to go) as they say it is a safe bet as compared to applying now (officially you can after 3 years).
I am planning to start working for a company in the US now..which means that I will travel to US and live there. However, I plan to keep the house in belgium where my family will still reside as my wife is also working here in belgium.
Question: If I go alone to the US and visit my family once every couple of months, is this 7 year period still valid? Can I still apply after 7 years?
If the answer is NO and that I will loose my residence, then can my wife still apply? because she will still be doing a job and living in belgium.
Thanks a lot for your answers.
Permanent residence - nationality
Hello prasadg.
Welcome to Expat.com! 
Hope other members will be able to help you.
Thank you,
Aurélie
Strictly speaking, you cannot. Theoretically, if you never inform your townhall about your change of address (mind that you are required to do so), then no way for them to discover where you have been living the last year. However, there are many risks. If you use Belgian airports as entry/exit points to the Schengen area, border police will notice something is wrong. You have to show your residence card (remember, you are a resident in Belgium) but your passport shows that you have been away too long. If you were Jason Bourne, perhaps you could fool border police using several passports, entering as a tourists under different identities, etc.. In addition to that, you have the problem of your taxes, are you going to hide your US income from the Belgian tax authority? As a resident here, you are required to report your worldwide revenue.
You wife can certainly apply. In order to avoid surprises, she can ask the person in charge of receiving the aplications to confirm when/if she can apply. There are special rules to calculate the seven years, it is not that simple. For example, if she ever forgot to renew her ID on time, then the clock goes back to zero, but there are other things to take into account.
Just ask at your town hall maybe
There is a rule about married couples living separately in different countries, the one who is working abroad cannot de-register without going to court, you will still be regarded as a resident. The local maison communale / gemeentehuis will know about this. So you go and work in the US, you end up going 2 tax declarations, if you're American, you're already doing it.
Thank you so much all.
Apart from your answers, the below page also clarified.
http://www.dekamer.be/kvvcr/showpage.cf … menu=right
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