Samenwonen with illegal

If the relationship is genuine and you have proof that you have been in a relationship for at least 2 years (chats, photos, receipts for vacation together etc) or that you have been residing together (officially for 1 year) then there is a high chance that it will be approved. But where you at anytime giving a paper which officially ordered you to leave the country?

Thanks for your reponse woodcook, i appreciate it.

Our relationship is genuine, we have been together almost 5 years now, and we have lots of photos and thousands of chats to show. I only just moved in with him this August. We were living in different parts of Belgium. The police came to check me at his place a few days after I moved in. We were at his commune yesterday to say we want to legally cohabitate. We were asked to go get some documents.

I have never been officially asked in writing to leave the country, though I had tried to regularize my stay in 2019 and i only got a response in writing earlier this year, and it was 'negative' though, i was asked to bring more proof of my being in the country since 2012. I gave all i had already, so i didn't pursue the 30 days appeal option i was given, as advised by my lawyer.

@kezz I believe it will work out for you guys. From experience, the process is draining but you should be aware of it and dont let it get to you guys. I wish you guys the best and I hope to read your good news in the near future.

Thanks so much for those encouraging words, they gave me hope. I will surely keep you posted.

@kezz Firstly you are illegal in the country , you are not going to get a residency. I am talking from experience. I got married in Belgium live here for more then 9 years but still never got a residency . I am married for 20 years. Had businesses here. You going to have a very hard time .

@Babitha De Ruyter Sorry for your situation, but I don't believe its gonna turn out that way for me. Besides, I had a F card for 5 years which expired in 2012.  Its a complicated story of which I don't want to get into.

@kezz

I was in exact situation in 2014 and it all turned out fine.

You have proof of 5 years relation, i had 6 months only 

1st got a negative  Appealed and luckily by the time i heard from the court (negative) i had proof of one year living in the same address 

2nd time applied got again orange card and 6 months later F card. 5 years later Nationality.

As long as your relationship is genuine, nothing to worry.

Questions from previous F card will come back for sure better have strong genuine answers.

Good luck.

Wow! You're now a Belgian citizen. Good to hear your  story which turned out well.

Thanks for sharing Jaci.

Four days ago, my partner and I had gone to the commune to submit the required documents for samen wonen. We were told the file was going to be sent to immigration department at Brussels and they would determine if I can stay in the country. We were told it could take up to 5 months to get a decision.

This sounds weird to me cuz i was expecting the commune would  after submission of the documents, give us a date to come for interview to determine if our relationship IS REAL, AND IF IT IS, I'LL GO AHEAD AND APPLY FOR FAMILY REUNIFICATION.

Is this the procedure for samen wonen that the ministry of immigration would determine if we can go ahead without interviewing us first?.

@kezz.

Normally after submission of your declaration you are supposed to be issued an orange card for 6 months why waiting for the decision from Brussels to determine your F card based.

Thanks for that info Ridewitgab, I was thinking to myself also if i shouldn't be given something temporary to hold. I have nothing official in my hand just my african passport. The police had come to confirm that I moved in with my partner, but still the commune says they can't give me any document.  to confirm my adress. If i am controlled by the police while out, i have nothing to show.

My dear i am from south africa married 21 years to a Belgium and i used to live in Belgium after marriage . I got married at the commune in Deurne Belgium . My husband had a job offer in South Afrika and we moved to South Africa. My husband contract finished and he retuned to Belgium and i am refused to get a family reunion visa. Rejected 4 times. I eventually came with a holiday visa and registered myself , started working but i am said i have to go back to South Africa. My marriage is registered  . Everything is done according to Belgium law. Was said they dont want people from Afrika. Its a sick country.

@Babitha, thanks for sharing, and sorry for the hassles you're going through but it makes no sense at all, how you would be denied living with your husband in Belgium despite having been married here legally.

Why not get a lawyer?.  I see no reason whu you would be asked to return to SA.

@kezz if I recall correctly, when you apply for samenwonen a form will be given to you indicating that you submitted an application. Then the police will contact you for interview, we were not told how long it will take before the police will reach out. After the police investigation, the police will send their findings to immigration and if positive the samenwonen will be approved.

Then you can apply for family reunion and get an orange card. If I may ask, is your partner a native belgium and has lived all his life here? Because I have come to understand that they are a bit lenient with partners of other EU member countries living in Belgium than they are with partners of Belgian citizens.

Yes, my partner is a native Belgian, born and bred here.  Lived all his life here, except for a few months in Spain.

This is my experience. We both went to his commune in June to say we would like to marry. We were given a list of documents to bring, which included my birth certificate. I had to contact my family in Africa to get this for me and the process took a long time. It finally arrived on the 5th of December and we went to submit all documents to the commune. I was given nothing, no form to fill, nothing. All we were told is that the documents would be sent to the Immigration in Brussels.

In the meantime, between June when we first went to commune to say we would like to marry and now, we had gotten married in my African pentecostal church in July, and i moved in with my partner in August, and the police came to check if i was there but nothing came out of it.

I know my church wedding carries no weight officially in Belgium, that's why we are pursuing a samenwonen now cuz it seems faster than getting married.

@kezz  I believe that by now you have received a response from the Brussels. The process is like you said. During ours I only got an attestation indicating that I applied for samenwonen and that was all I had. If I recall correctly while still having the attest, we were invited to the police station for the interview after which we got a letter that it has been approved. Few months later I went to apply for Family reunion.

Yes they don't really give any temporary id (orange) after you applied for samenwonen. Maybe you could ask for an attestation that shows that applied, that is if you are yet to receive any feedback from Brussels.

Stay strong and stay positive, it will turn out fine, ours did.

Hey Woodcook, so kind of you to check in again. I have some good news so far.

We had our interview on the 12th February conducted at the Commune to determine the genuineness of our relationship. We were interviewed separately. We were told our file would be sent to Brussels for a decision and it could take up to 5 months to get a feedback.

I got home and said a little  prayer 'God it would be so nice if 5 months could be 5 weeks'. I went about my business, but God heard me.

The next day, in the late afternoon, my man comes home from a hospital appointment and says he got an email from the Commune saying they have decided not to send our file to Brussels but we could come and get married at the Commune. I was gobsmacked! Am I dreaming?. Just like that??? come and marry??? No further proofs needed???     Well, thank you Jesus!!

We quickly booked an appointment to go declare for marriage and we got a date.

We actually got married last week at the commune. whoo hoo!!!

Now, we're thinking of when to apply for family reunification. I was thinking we do it immediately, my husband was of the opinion to hold up for a few days or weeks so it doesn't give the impression that we married to get papers. Does that matter???. They felt our relationship was genuine enough that's why they authorized us to marry without involving Brussels. Why would they think we did it for papers now?.

Besides, i have no Belgium documents except the wedding certificate. I feel we should go ahead and apply for my family reunification immediately. Yes???

What do you think?

@kezz Congratulations, yes you can go ahead and do family reunification. It doesn't matter.

If they didn't think you were getting married for papers why will they think you are doing family reunification for the papers.

Congratulations please keep us updated so we know how the process is going to be like for us.

Goodluck

Thanks so much Grace for your good wishes.

I'll keep u posted, and feel free to ask me any  questions that might help you too.

Hi Kezz

let me know how it all goes-- i hope you the best.

i have a very similar situation like you

i was married with a belgian few years ago. i got an F card 2020 (which will expire 2025)

then we got divorced.

i have been legally working in belgium for few years now.

last year, i have a belgian boyfriend (living now with him)

however, i wanna apply a new card (legal cohabitation) or we might get married .

i hope i can also have another resident permit in the future afer the expiration of my F card.

Hi Elly,

Sorry about your divorce but i'm sure you'll have no problem with your papers. You shouldn't need cohabitation or new marriage, sice you've been living and working in Belgium for a few years, before your current card expires, you should go ahead and apply for F+ permanent residency or even Nationality.

You can get more details from your commune.

No worries, you'll be ok.

Hello everyone

I have a question, me and my girlfriend a Belgium National want to do samenwonen what are the chances of me getting a Belgium residence permit.

@woodcook pls i have a question after 2yrs living and working in beligum i got a negative decision for my asylum process.. but i have already a girlfriend who is native beligum and we have been dating for 6months but currently live together but not officially we got different address.. we want to apply for samenwonen but some ask me to wait until 1yr living together unofficial with prove of chat, photos and vacation with family before I apply if not it will make me look desperate to get papers after getting negative decisions already from my asylum while others ask me to go ahead and apply i will be given 6months orange card to work after providing the requirements and proves while we wait for the process of samenwonen.. am really confused 😕 on what to do please your advice 😕.. thanks

@kezz

Congratulations and I am really happy to read your good news. I supposed that my now you have applied for card F and almost at the end of the waiting period. Aside wishing you the best with the process, I also wish you a very happy married life. Remain blessed.

@Maduabuchiuche

To be frank it depends on the commune and given that your asylum process was denied, I think it will look neat if you wait like advised. In my case, I did not apply for asylum process I only had my resident card as student that expired and I never made any attempt to renew it. Which on the surface does not look like I was desperate.

Yes, in some commune it might seem a bit desperate given that your asylum process was rejected and within a short period you applied for samenwonen. To clear all doubt you can wait till the relationship is one year before you apply for samenwonen. Please remember to keep evidence of your relationships chats, pictures, videos, receipts from vacation or restaurants, visits to her family events etc.

Note that usually when you apply for samenwonen you won't be issued orange card (unless the process has been changed). You will be issued orange card when you apply for family reunion. Unless you want to reply for asylum process (then you will have orange card) and at the same time apply for samenwonen, this looks desperate and I personally will strongly advice against that.

Best of luck and I hope to read your good news soon.