Family reunion - Dependent Visa for spouse

Hello Jo,

Till recently (my friend applied in Nov'16), it is possible in the Belgian consulate in India (via VFS) to apply for D type visa together (WP holder and spouse+kid).

May be the consulate in Indonesia has a different policy or there is any change in law recently that I am not aware of.

Did you get official direction from the consulate or was it from VFS ?

BR
Aneesh

Hi Aneesh,


Thank you for your reply. My husband and I went to the embassy and got the information from them.
However, the attorney in France who helps us with the process is trying to find more info about this because it's not usual according to her. In many countries the type D visa should be applied together like you mentioned.
Hopefully we will get a good news by today.

I will keep you updated.


Thanks much


Jo

@ramesh_A
Do you have B card with work permit?
And congrats to your wife recieved visa.
Ive applied spouse visa in October and still waiting answer. My husband holds B card of 5 years and he has been living in belgium for 17 years. Recently his belgian nationality approved by the court.

Hi Aneesh,

My name is Clement and I am in EU citizen residing in South Africa. I have just accepted a job for a company based in Belgium and I will be commencing in about 2 months.

I have a partner, who is a South African national. We have been in a cohabitation for more than 2 years (we are not in a registered partnership but have been together for more than 3 years) and I am trying to understand the process for my partner to obtain a residence permit.

My partner holds a Schengen Visa and can be in the country for 90 days, but we will now need to go through the process of getting a residence permit that will allow my partner to find a job.

I have contacted the Belgian Embassy in South Africa and I have been told that my partner qualifies as a “family member” in accordance with the EU instruction 2004/38 – even though we are not legally married.

We have proofs of our long standing relationship (shared bank account, shared medical insurance, shared lease agreements and a police affidavit) and I will have a work contract.

1.    Upon my arrival in Belgium we will not have a fixed address as we will need to look for an accommodation, can we register with a temporary address and then change it as soon as we find a more permanent address?
2.    I understand that to issue a permit it may take up to 6 months – will my partner be able to find a job / work during this time?
3.    Will my partner be able to travel back to South Africa and keep working until his permit is issued – this in case he has no legal right to work without the residence permit.

Thanks a lot for your help,

Dear all,

I have some questions about family reunion visa for Belgium and I appreciate your response. I found out that you have really good knowledge about this, so I am contacting you.

I am Indian citizen living with my wife and daughter in France. I received job contract and work permit from a Belgium employer. I went to apply for a long stay visa in Belgium consulate in Paris. They are ready to process my visa, however the visa officer told that my wife and daughter need a health insurance from Belgium. My company doesn't provide health insurance.

I came to know that in order to register for health insurance in Belgium, I need to be in Belgium. Do you know any ways to solve this problem?

I really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance for your help.

Navikkumar wrote:

Dear all,

I have some questions about family reunion visa for Belgium and I appreciate your response. I found out that you have really good knowledge about this, so I am contacting you.

I am Indian citizen living with my wife and daughter in France. I received job contract and work permit from a Belgium employer. I went to apply for a long stay visa in Belgium consulate in Paris. They are ready to process my visa, however the visa officer told that my wife and daughter need a health insurance from Belgium. My company doesn't provide health insurance.

I came to know that in order to register for health insurance in Belgium, I need to be in Belgium. Do you know any ways to solve this problem?

I really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance for your help.

Hello,

Generally speaking, all employers in Belgium subscribes the employee and his spouse+kid(s) to the social mutuality (public medical insurance).
May be your employer meant they will not provide your wife a health insurance additional to the public medical insurance (mutuality) ?

Now for the visa: In your case, I guess the consulate needs proof of a health insurance for the initial period (till you get a Belgian residence permit and subscribe to a public medical insurance or additional private insurance). In my humble opinion, you can get a travel medical insurance from any providers that covers Belgium (or EU).  [Check with consulate if they have a list of approved insurance providers.]

Hope this helps.

Aneesh

Clemente443 wrote:

Hi Aneesh,

1.    Upon my arrival in Belgium we will not have a fixed address as we will need to look for an accommodation, can we register with a temporary address and then change it as soon as we find a more permanent address?
2.    I understand that to issue a permit it may take up to 6 months – will my partner be able to find a job / work during this time?
3.    Will my partner be able to travel back to South Africa and keep working until his permit is issued – this in case he has no legal right to work without the residence permit.

Thanks a lot for your help,

1. It is possible. Registration goes in this succession (as you may have already learned) -> Upon arrival you report to the commune and fill in the form for inscription, commune transfers the file to police to verify the address you gave, on successful police verification commune invites you for biometric data collection and order the residence card, residence card is created and its PIN number is sent to the address yo gave, you take the pin number to the commune and collect your residence card. If your move to a new address is in between any of these steps, it will make things difficult. There are two approaches: First is to inscribe using your temporary address and cross fingers all formalities will be complete before you move to permanent one. Second is to visit commune and tell them you will find permanent accommodation in a very short period (say 1 month) and you will inscribe once you have the permanent address and proceed as they suggest.

2. it may take upto 2-3 weeks to issue a work permit (if it is type B that is applied by a hiring organization). For other types of work permits, I have no much idea. Your partner can start applying to jobs once the residence card is ready and if there is a company that can get a work permit B for him, that is great!

3. Commune does not recommend traveling back to home country while the residence permit application is in progress. I dont have more info on this. Technically a person with multiple entry visa must be able to travel and get back, but as I said, when the RP application is in progress, I would suggest to stay till the card is received.

Hope this helps. When you visit the commune after your arrival, they will be able to explain clearly the legal and official policies on points 2 and 3. *My answers are based on the info I have and from listening to ppl

Good luck with the whole process !

Hi Aneesh,

Thanks a lot for the reply.

Does getting an attestation from employer, stating that they will subscribe me and my family to the Mutuelle insurance once we reach to Belgium, is enough or getting a travel insurance is the best option?

Navikkumar

Get both I would say. If the consulate is so strict to see an insurance document, get a travel medical insurance for at least 3 months. Additionally a letter from your employer stating they will subscribe you and your family to the public mutuelle will strengthen your application.

Hi Aneeshks,
I'm living in Belgium from last 6months.I applied for my family visa through my company.Please
let me now how much time it'll take to process.

Regards
Kumar Prabhakar

6 months at least if your file is sent to Belgium for decision making.

any specific reason they send application to Belgium.I applied through my company from agent with all the supporting documents.

I dont know. It is upto the consulate.

My husband just submitted his papers in India. How long should the process take? He has been living in the US for 5.5 years now and recently quit his job to be with me after the wedding. He has also been to Europe like 9 times already in past 7 years that I live here. I have a resident card from work (I am a pHd CANDIDATE) working for a research consultancy in Belgium. Is there any timeline? He submitted all his documents correctly and even added extra documents for safety. He has an affidavit instead if a birth certificate, but the embassy ensured it was fine and that they will let him know if he needs more.

Please can anyone tell me his prospects of getting the visa and the timeline? VFS said 3 - 5 weeks if it is not being send to Belgium. What will be the chances that it will be send to Belgium?

Nowadays most of the "family reunion" applications are sent to Belgium for decision making. I dont know what criteria does the consulate apply to decide whether the file is to be sent to Belgium or not. One thing for sure - if the file is sent, it takes it's normal course - 5 months or so for a decision.

Hi,

Here is my experience.

I applied at vfs on 10-jan 2017 and they sent to Belgium on 17-jan. On March first week it started showing status as in process. April 27, visa approved. I received documents+passports by 2nd may.

Hi Aneeshks

Where i can register my rent agreement in Antwerp

Hi Araj123

What are the documents you have submitted for residence proof?
Did you submit the registered rental document?

Thanks in Advance
Regards
Kumar Prabhakar

Yes. I have submitted the registered rental contract as application document.

A note: If you open Belgium embassy in Singapore, you will find a neat check list, that we have to submit.

Where can I register my rental agreement in Antwerp Belgium?

https://www.angloinfo.com/how-to/belgiu … -agreementhttps://www.belgium.be/nl/belastingen/r … contracten

Hope these links can help.

Indeed, follow the links above and you will get instructions.

It can also be done online by your landlord too in https://www.belgium.be/nl/online_dienst/app_myrent

Hi aneeshks,
Where do I need to send additional documents?

Hi

I have similar question. I am going to apply for dependents visa
but right now my friend is sharing apartment with me, but his name is not included in rental agreement.
Rental agreement has only my name
please let me know if it is going to be any issue if we have a person sharing place with me at the time of applying dependents visa

Hi Aneeshks,
Happy New Year I have seen your posts and responses in this site. You are doing a great job. I believe that you could clarify my query.

I have been in Belgium since December 2017 and I have a marriage plan during July 2018. I want to process a Dependent Visa during that time. If it is by July 2018, already my stay would have crossed 6 months and I have to process as Family Reunion which will take at least another 4-6 months duration. For this case, Is it fine to register at my friend's house (which is possible for 3 persons to stay) or should I need to register a house with contract on my name?

I know a friend who processed his dependent visa (not Family reunion) with the accommodation document registering him at his friend's house (his friend is a contract owner). The difference here is I will be processing a Family Reunion and my friend processed normal Dependent visa. So will that have a difference in taking a house contract on my name or just my registering my name at my friend's house?
Your help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Firstly, family-reunion long term and dependent visa are all the same D type visa to join a spouse who is already a resident of Belgium.

When your wife applies for a visa to join you here (after your wedding),  she needs to provide a proof for 'means of sufficient accommodation' which is the rental contract. The contract must actually be in your name. Your friend got around it with a contract on sharing basis, does not imply that you will and things are getting stricter day by day. It is not a good idea to complicate the file

You may live with your friends now in sharing basis, but please look for a contract on your own by June 2018 or so, so that you can use that with your wife's visa application that will make sure her application is perfect. Better safe than sorry (my personal opinion)

Thank you Aneesh. 

Dear Aneesh,

Happy new year! Many thnaks for always sharing good information in this forum. My husband applied for a family reunion visa on July 10,2017 and his visa still has pending status. Recently, in December he was asked to provide a new rental contract and a medical insurance from Belgium (not India). We submitted the documents in middle of December, but we still dont have any change in his visa application status. Do you know when we can expect a decision and if or not , there are chances of rejection. I have been living in Europe since 8 years and he was in the US for 6 years before he moved with me. Hence, we expected that the process would take a little less longer than 8 months (and counting)!

Cheers
Priya

Priya

There is always a chance of rejection but considering you submitted documents in the middle of December and we have just had holiday (Christmas & New Year) things will take much longer.

Thank you so much for responding. Yes, everybody here is on holidays and I just got back from mine too. I have been trying to reach IFZ, but there lines are always busy. The wait for this visa is too long!

Cheers
Priya

Right priya I also applied in April and still waiting

Yes Priya, the fact that a new rental contract was asked - is a good sign. That indicates your application is processed by DOFI. As you provided the new document to them, there may be a response soon. !

Thanks Aneesh. Yes, we submitted the medical insurance thing (still unclear what is it that they are actually looking for). My husband made an Indian insurance and also got a letter signed from CM here that they will cover him as soon as his visa is successsful!

My rental contract is also upto date till end of Feb since we plan to move to Antwertp after his visa is done.

How long do you think this might take?

Cheers
Priya

OMG!!!

This just happened!!
Décision:    Octroi du visa sur production de pièces complémentaires.
Date de la décision:    Jan 2 2018
extra info1:    Le poste diplomatique/consulaire compétent communiquera quelles pièces doivent être produites.
extra info2:    La décision est en principe envoyée le jour où elle est prise. Un délai de quelques jours peut cependant s'écouler avant sa réception effective par le poste diplomatique ou consulaire.


what does this mean???? My husband is in Belgium on his tourist visa since we went holidaying together. Does this mean that he needs to go to Delhi now to get the visa stamped?

Yes. The office where he applied for the visa (if it is VFS Delhi) will soon be receiving this decision from DOFI and communicating this decision to him. He must go there, produce his original passport (which I assume is with him now as you say you guys are traveling/holidaying) and follow further proceedings (basically to get the visa stamped). If additional documents are asked, carry them too.

Good luck and congratulations !

HI Aneesh,

Thank you for the great work and information you provide.
My husband is due to receive his work permit from his company in Belgium. I would like to know id its possible to apply for my visa & my sons visa along with my husband.

Also, how likely is it to get a visa if we show that the company will be providing us with accommodation for the first month? Is it enough? or do you have to show a house contract?
If you have any insights on this please do let me know, as we would like to know the best way to move forward and not get a rejection.

Thanks in advance.

Yes you and kid can Apply with him. And It is recommended you all apply together.

For accommodation, get a letter from his employer that they are providing 1 month (or whatever duration is applicable) initial accommodation for him and his family (make sure to include your names in this letter) and using this initial stay period, he will be finding a permanent accommodation for himself and his family. Along with this letter, submit the booking confirmation for initial accommodation, if possible add your names in that booking.

thank you for the reply.

What is the schooling system like in Belgium? Do a lot of expats send their kids to govt school or international school? Are international schools very highly prices?

Also, do you recommend any good sites where i can looking for apartments and houses? I dont find too many property finder sites when I google.

Thanks,

SBP04 wrote:

thank you for the reply.

What is the schooling system like in Belgium? Do a lot of expats send their kids to govt school or international school? Are international schools very highly prices?

Also, do you recommend any good sites where i can looking for apartments and houses? I dont find too many property finder sites when I google.

Thanks,

Please read threads in https://www.expat.com/forum/256-6-study-in-belgium.html for schooling.

For apartment search: Immoweb.be

Also plenty of threads on this topic in: https://www.expat.com/forum/256-7-accom … lgium.html