Family reunification

Hello,

My husband was born and grew up a Belgian citizen and we were married for 3 years but we did not live in the European country. We have a company that has been connected and working remotely for 3 years and we still work. We have a certain savings up to 30,000 euro and we receive a total salary of 3,000 euros. We will apply for an F card and when we arrive, we will stay at my spouse's family's house without paying rent. Does anyone have any experience or want to give advice? Do you think we can apply under these conditions?

@ss942

Hey any update on your file?

Nope nothing yet. @Abhimanyu_143

Hey guys any updates for applications in April  or May

Family Reunification Visa Timeline -Islamabad, Pakistan

Application Submitted: March 14th 2025

Date of Registration: April 16th 2025

IBZ Status Changed to “Agreement”: August 29th 2025

Thank you! Yes we are both non EU. No additional documents were requested, we made sure we provide all required documents when we submitted the application @Grace Great

@ss942

Congrats, Happy for you.

@ss942

Congratulations. May I know when your application forwarded to ibz after appointment?

@ss942

Many congratulations!

@Abhimanyu_143 Thank you! Yes March 21st

Hi everyone,

Does anyone here have a timeline for an application submitted from within Belgium? I am here with a single permit visa but applied simultaneously for a family reunification visa so as not to be dependent on my employer. Because I didn't apply from an embassy I dont have a visa application number and can't track the progress!

Day submitted to the commune in Belgium: 20 March 2025

Family reunification with a Belgian citizen, I am British (non-EU).

It would be great to hear from someone in a similar situation.

Rosie

Hi everyone,

Does anyone here have a timeline for an application submitted from within Belgium? I am here with a single permit visa but applied simultaneously for a family reunification visa so as not to be dependent on my employer. Because I didn't apply from an embassy I dont have a visa application number and can't track the progress!

Day submitted to the commune in Belgium: 20 March 2025

Family reunification with a Belgian citizen, I am British (non-EU).

It would be great to hear from someone in a similar situation.

Rosie

I am in the same situation as you. I already leave in Belgium. Did you apply in Loket Migratie?

My work contract (and work permit) will end on October 14, 2025.

On July 15, 2025, my partner (Belgian) and I applied for legal cohabitation and family reunification at the Loket Migratie in Antwerp. Since then, I have only received confirmation that my application is being processed, but I am still waiting for the Annex 19ter, Annex 51, and eventually the orange card (attestation d’immatriculation).

In the meantime, I am worried about what will happen once my work permit ends:

Will I automatically be covered by the family reunification application while waiting for the orange card?

Can I still travel to Mexico (I have flights booked mid-November to mid-December), and return without losing my ongoing application?

Or will I need to return as a tourist, meaning I lose my procedure?

If anyone has been through a similar process in Antwerp, I would be very grateful for your advice on timelines, travel risks, and how to check the status of my application.

@Fernanda Martínez71

Hi, that is a tough situation. I was not offered an orange card as my work permit is valid until 31 December 2025. I can't comment on your situation with travel, so I suggest (if you have not done so already) that you ring IBZ to get advice. They were very friendly when I rang for an update on my visa: https://dofi.ibz.be/nl/contact

Good luck!

Hello @ss942, Congratulations with your visas!

And, could you please help with clarifying the date of IBZ (Belgium immigration office) registration date:

Family Reunification Visa Timeline -Islamabad, Pakistan

Application Submitted: March 14th 2025

Date of Registration: April 16th 2025

IBZ Status Changed to “Agreement”: August 29th 2025

Here you mentioned April 16th,  and below you mentioned 21st March:

@Abhimanyu_143 Thank you! Yes March 21st

Which one is it?

IBZ Registration Date - Corresponding Initial Reply Date

---------------------------------------------------------------------

2024 Mar 7 - Aug 21

2024 May 27 - Oct 21

2024 July 8 - Sep 17

2024 August 1 - Dec 12

2024 August 5 - Oct 25

2024 August 22 - November 6

2024 Sep 20 - Jan 23

2024 Nov 21 - Jan 22

2024 Nov 22 - Jan 28

2024 Nov 26 - May 5

2024 Dec 9 - Feb 17

2025 Jan 9 - Apr 24

2025 Feb 19 - Jul 11

2025 March 17 - July 17

2025 March 18 - August 11 

2025 April 16 - August 29

Might be helpful for guesstimate. (Based on the data from the current forum)

@mkomilov6611

21st march is when application is forward to ibz and date of registration is when it's register on ibz for tracking

Ah yeah nvm then, thats good we're at the April items already. Expecting more output from IBZ with summer holidays ended, hopefully 😉

@mkomilov6611

Thank you! Date of registration is April 16th. It was transferred to IBZ on March 21

@ss942

Did you already receive the passport? If yes how many days it took?

@fakharabbas53 No haven’t received the passport yet still waiting? Any idea how long does this take?

@ss942

Nope no idea, did you not hear anything from VFS?

Good news. Our visa was just approved.

Our timeline:

Applied: March19th

Registered: April 14th

Approved: September 8th

Both Non EU

@Mert AKEL

Congratulations 👏 did they asked any additional documents?

@Abhimanyu_143

Thanks. No. I sent them everything that they might ask before via email. There was just a problem on the system where decision date was filled while being still in progress. I sent them a mail to ask. They fixed it today.

@Mert AKEL

So first you get decision on email?

@Abhimanyu_143

There was a mistake. I asked them and they said it is approved. So, yes.

I got an email from vfs on 9/9/25 and picked my passport on 9/10/25 @fakharabbas53

@Mert AKEL

I have a question. Were either of you residing in Belgium while waiting for the other's visa? Or were both of you outside Belgium?

I'm going to KU Leuven for my PhD studies and I have my visa. However, my spouse's visa hasn't been issued yet, and we applied on June 15. My visa expires on November 27. Since I want to go with my spouse, we are currently waiting in Turkey. Do you think I need to go to Belgium and start the residence permit process?

Thanks.

@Ozan Karata?

I am currently residing in Belgium. My wife is in abroad. To be honest, I am not sure about your case. There are requirements for us like salary, housing etc. For you, I don't know.

@Ozan Karata?

You should go to Belgium, receive your phd scholarship salary, get a decent house, get insurance and send those documents to ibz so that they allow your wife to come.

One question to people who already got their passport. Do we get the original documents back, that were submitted with the application?

@rosieallison95

Update: Visa approved on 4th September.

Day submitted to the gemeente in Belgium: 20 March 2025

Family reunification with a Belgian citizen, I was already residing in Belgium (on a work visa)

Good luck to all of those waiting.

Hello,

I become recently Belgian citizen and my wife RP is getting expired and commune has mentioned to pay 213 euros, does any let me know why the price for extension of RP to dependent is so high? Will there be any advantages to dependents in this case? Also what is the duration of Dependent getting an approval for RP extension? THANKS FOR SUPPORT

@Fernanda Martínez71

With an Orange Card, technically, you are NOT allowed to travel out of Belgium. The Orange Card grants you a temporary stay in Belgium and not in the  Schengen Zone ...

@Ozan Karata?

Hi, I am also in the same situation with you. We have applied on June 25th, and my husband's visa has not come yet. People said if you go and take your residence permit, things will go a bit more fast. Did you receive anything recently? 

Hi Everyone

I am married to a Belgian, and I live in Belgium on an orange card. I am working, but my husband is not. We have applied several times for a family reunion, but I am always getting rejected. The reason is that my husband has to work. He is 65, and it's hard to get work. I got married in 2003 in Belgium under the laws of Belgium.

Will they give me the f card? I have been working for three years now.

Is anyone in this situation? Or advise what I can do.

Hello all, does it happens with any one and knows when will I receive email ?

Status on ibz shows that I need to submit additional documents but in reality not received any email on document requirement.

Thank you !