Spouse visa steps for Indians

Hi nailpainter,
Thank you for sharing such a detailed and useful story And congratulations! Would you mind sharing if you and your Dutch husband were married in India or in Belgium?

I am Indian. My fiancé is Belgian. We were told that it is better to get married in Belgium for residency reasons and we started the paperwork for Schengen C type visa early 2015. This included the PCC, medical certificate and visa fees of 180€ from my side and an interview and some documents from my fiancés side. I finally submitted my documents to VFS on the 6th of July reached the relevant Belgium immigration office by diplomatic post on 28th July 2015.

I'm very anxious to hear from them. We did not anticipate that they would need so much time to grant me the visa. And had actually decided on a date in early August for the wedding From your information it looks like they take a little more than a month to reach a decision. So I guess we should expect to hear from them sometime in the second week of September? I am also wondering if they will interview me after this? Will that have implications on the visa as well?

Thanks in advance!

Thank you!

Actually I keep reading online things like it is better to get married in EU if you wish to stay there etc. But in all honesty and experience I have not found that to be true. I married my Dutch husband in India by choice. Marrying in India has not hindered my paperwork or visa in any ways. In fact it has helped me a lot because in India at least I have a certain understanding of how the system works and I don't feel helpless for not knowing the language when dealing with government offices.

I have many Indian friends who have gotten married with EU nationals, some have married in India and some have married in Europe. So I have a basis for comparison.

After my wedding I applied for a Schengen type C visa. I got my Schengen visa in 1 day. And since I was the wife of an EU national, I didn't have to submit PCC, medical certificate, visa fee etc. Additionally the visa processing was way faster than it would have been had we not been married.

Yes, you're right that you can estimate hearing a decision from them in the second week of September. Belgian bureaucracy is slow and they love their paperwork. That you'll be interviewed at this stage is highly unlikely, I haven't known anyone personally who did.

Hope this helps

Hey nailpainter,
Guess what? The 'decision' title on the dofi website changed yesterday. I called the Belgium Consulate in Mumbai to ask what it said and they very rudely told me they didn't know, but informed I need to pick up a note from the ministry from the VFS office on Monday. In the meantime my fiancé called up the ministry in Belgium directly and they told him it's a normal decision and that the ministry needs something from the consulate. I find it strange that the consulate people here are so rude. Clearly she knew what was needed but refused to tell me. Now I'm going to spend the entire weekend worried about what they want!

Furthermore, the marriage paperwork is valid only for a period of 6 months. So we are getting more and more anxious as that date is drawing close. If we miss it, we will need to redo ALL the paperwork!

We were considering getting married in India first. However, we were told that Belgium does not recognise marriages in India to Belgian nationals and decided to go about it the other way. Comparing my experience to yours, I would certainly recommend getting married in India and applying for a C visa soon after. Then while on the C visa in Belgium, apply for D. From your experience with the D visa, way lesser documents are required, you save a bunch of money on the apostille and it looks like it takes just about 2 months.

Did you have a court marriage in India? Was it a lot of paperwork too? Did your husband have to be on a travel/ work visa?

First of all, congrats that at least the decision is made

I urge you to ask for the same information in writing from the consulate. Everyone behaves better in writing because their ass is being tracked I am sure you will get a more decent reply than the casual 'we don't know, whatever' nonsense that lady has been throwing at all the applicants.

If the consulate refuses to co-operate decently with the immigration office in Belgium in an acceptable/ appropriate amount of time, your fiancee has the option of contacting SOLVIT. Although, I'd say to keep it as the last resort.

Don't worry about the marriage paperwork being valid for only six months, it needs to valid on the day of the application only. You will not need to re-submit anything. Additionally, your decision is essentially already made, so I don't think it is about the marriage paperwork in all likelihood.

__________________________

I hope you didn't consult one of those dicey 'immigration lawyers' who are rarely up to date with the latest EU laws. Belgium and India are the signatories of The Hague Convention, they are obliged to recognize official paperwork from each other.

I decided to get married in India for many reasons. My husband was working in India on a project for 2 years, he was posted from his Swiss company to India. So, if we wanted to get married in Netherlands he'd have to fly back to Europe with me and it would have been such a hassle with paperwork. Especially because we both were already in India, so why not just marry here

Europe countries and their paperwork is far more accomodating to Indians who are already married to the EU citizens than those who are planning to marry. The law favours spouses more than girlfriends and boyfriends

Secondly, I wanted a big fat Indian wedding. My family is very large and I would have had around 170 guests from my side. My husband would only have had 50 guests if we married in NL. So we decided to get married where most people could make it to the wedding.

____________________________


Yes, I did have a court marriage (it wasn't a court like you see in Bollywood movies, just an airconditioned office of the local SDM). We married under the Special Marriage Act because it doesn't bother with the religions of the bride and groom (I am Hindu and my husband is Christian and we were in no mood of converting).

There was barely any paperwork needed. The only document that we didn't have already was my husband's certificate of bachelorhood It was easy to procure (my husband requested it from his city hall online and his family posted it to India) and tada! Just like that we were married for 100 rupees (court fees). I got my birth certificate apostilled for 70 or 80 rupees and an affidavit saying I'm single for 150 rupees, so literally getting married in India cost us less than 10 Euros.

I have documented the details of this bureaucratic journey in a blogspot blog called betterabroad (I think I can't post the link here). I can pm you if you want

I hope I have answered all your questions

Hi nailpainter,
It's always so nice of you to answer my questions in detail. Thank you again I also found your blog and went through it. Wish I had found it earlier. Very helpful. 

I called up the embassy today and after much prodding figured that I need to go in for an interview. I was expecting this. And actually looking forward to it. Am wondering what they would ask me and if I should carry any documents for this interview, if any. Also I wonder how much longer they will take to process and grant me my visa after the interview. You didn't go through this so I suppose you won't know the answers.

Once I'm married in Belgium on the C visa, I will immediately apply for the D visa. No idea what documents I need to submit for that. Will not be the same as yours I guess, so will need to find that out.

I also checked with my fiancé again about the validity of paperwork and he's been told that the paperwork is valid for us to get married from the date of submission to 6 months. That means that even if I get a visa from Oct to Dec, we will need to get married in Nov because we registered the marriage papers in June. I think it's best to go with that information and figure out our wedding date to avoid any further dismay! 

Will keep you posted!

I am really quite surprised at the Embassy's behaviour. If they knew already that you had to report for an interview, why did they simply not tell you when you called previously! What idiots! Knowing the status of/ information on your visa is your right, it shouldn't require prodding

I suppose you should carry the photocopies of everything you submitted to be sure. And in case they're calling to verify the genuineness of your relationship, then carry a bunch of photos and other proof of your relationshio as well (something like what one would do for the US fiancee visa interview). But yeah, I do not know for a fact.

Everything I had heard about the snail's speed functioning of the Belgian bureaucracy is exactly true!

Anyways, stay strong and positive for your upcoming nuptials!

Yes, the embassy has been quite terrible. Infact I can now recognise the voice of the rude woman who's answer is always 'I don't know!'

I'm going to do some research on what I should carry with me. And will post again here after my interview is done.

By the way, there was once I got that ridiculous woman on the phone - I just told her that I wanted to speak to someone else as I wasn't satisfied with her answers. I was transfered to a man (non- Indian) who was way more polite and answered what I asked of him. You could try this too

Hi

If you can tell me were your original documents like marriage certificate were return to you at vfs nehru place.

Hi,

I can confirm this. All the supporting documents will be returned to you from VFS.

Regards
Aneesh

hi Aneesh,

i know you are living in Belgium from long time...do you by chance know that if a person holds B card (Unlimited stay in Belgium) then for how many months a person can visit to his or her home country  which will not therefore have any  effect on his or her B or A card issued by Belgium authorities....

The supporting documents can be collected at two times I was told, one was 3-4 weeks after application and the other was when the visa would be approved they could be picked alongwith the stamped passport. I chose to pick up my documents with my passport when I went for collection. Yes, it was at the VFS center itself.

honey2000 wrote:

hi Aneesh,

i know you are living in Belgium from long time...do you by chance know that if a person holds B card (Unlimited stay in Belgium) then for how many months a person can visit to his or her home country  which will not therefore have any  effect on his or her B or A card issued by Belgium authorities....

Sorry I missed this question.

As far as I know, there is no limit on the time you can stay out of Belgium. In other words, the person who holds B or A card can come back to Belgium till the last date of validity of that card.

No...its one year ..you have to be back in belgium in one year ..otherwise they will delete your name from records...

honey2000 wrote:

No...its one year ..you have to be back in belgium in one year ..otherwise they will delete your name from records...

Interesting..

Could you point me to the source of this information please ? (Any official website or document ? )

Call 027938000 follow the ivr option or else go to your local muncipality ...they will inform the same...the website is same for all the things which dofi website.... You can follow the ivr option and press the number for general inquiry and ask them the question ...you can visit the website of dofi and under that you will see option of absence and return...just click on that you will see the info....also open the website in nl langauage...

honey2000 wrote:

Call 027938000 follow the ivr option or else go to your local muncipality ...they will inform the same...

Thanks, but after careful reading of DOFI (NL) website (https://dofi.ibz.be/sites/dvzoe/NL/Gids … gkeer.aspx) I have different conclusion. ( I think you misunderstood the information).

The page describes two situations.

Situation 1: If you are on a temporary residence permit (1 year validity and renewable based on conditions) - Card type A
================================================================================================
-> If you leave and stay out of Belgium for a period more than 3 months and less than 6 months, you registration is retained in the commune.
-> If you leave and stay our of Belgium for a period more than 3 months and less than 12 months, your registration is still kept, but it is recommended You remain enrolled in the church registers to notify the local authority about your absence so that the inconvenience of a cancellation and a new registration is avoided. Also, this period of absence has no effect for your permanent resident application (if you decide to apply later on) if your absence is motivated by professional or medical reasons or by the monitoring of a pregnancy or childbirth.
-> Staying for more than 12 months outside is out of the question because in this situation, the ID itself is only valid for 12 months.

Situation 2: (You have permanent residence card - which is valid for 5 years and renewable) - Card type B
===================================================================================
-> If you leave and stay out of Belgium for a period less than 2 years. There is no effect. It is recommended to notify the local authority of your absence so that the inconvenience of a cancellation and a new registration is avoided.
-> If the duration of absence is more than 2 years, you will have to again prove that you have the right for a long term stay in Belgium.

Regards
Aneesh

If im correct its A card which is valid for one year ...b card is always valid for 5 years...let me know....

I edited the previous post with some more info based on the data in the website. Yes, in my knowledge the temporary (mostly 1 year) card is called A type and the other one (permanent residence - renewable 5 year cards) is called B type.

Also dont get confused with work permits. Work permits also are in different types (A, B, etc).

Yeah i know on website its written you can leave belgium for 2 years when holding 5 year b card or any other card..but guess what when you call the number which i indicated they will tell you for 1 year...which is why i told you One year...

Hello all,

Finally we got some update on DOFI for the dependent visa we applied.
The date of decision is given as Oct 22nd 2015 but the description says
"Pending the receipt of documents supporting the visa application sent by diplomatic bag by the diplomatic / consular post."

date of application in Mumbai 28/07/15
date of registration in Belgium 27/08/15
date of decision is 22/10/15

I called up the VFS Mumbai however they have no information.

Does the description means it will take more time or is it a normal update from the Belgium office? Date of decision is given but no decision has been mentioned 
Thank you

call 003227938000 then 1 and 1...tell them your file number..they will give you the best answer....vfs knows nothing....

Finally and after so much of waiting i could see the mssg in dofi as "accord".
I guess it will take time to update in VFS .

here are the details

date of application in Mumbai 28/07/15
date of registration in Belgium 27/08/15
date of decision is 22/10/15 (pending for additional docs)
date of approval 20/11/15
(This is the time frame when dependents joins later)

Now my question is how much time it takes to get back the passports and other docs which we submitted. Does all originals have to come from belgium?
As when we submit the application it takes 1 month to reach Belgium, is it the same while getting back?
Also while travelling what docs are required?

Thanking you all for posting the questions and others for answering the questions.

Now my question is how much time it takes to get back the passports. -> Normally a week max. The decision is electronically transmitted to consulate in India.
Does all originals have to come from Belgium? -> In my knowledge, no.
Also while traveling what docs are required? -> All supporting documents you submitted in originals.

Thank you 

Dears,

Date of application in Mumbai : 22/07/2015
Date of the visa application of registration by the Office for Foreigners : 25/09/2015
Date of Decision : 22/10/2015
           --We have submitted the document on 28/10/2015
Date of Decision : January 26, 2016

Now the status is :-
------------------------------------
Decision: Pending the receipt of documents supporting the visa application sent by diplomatic bag by the diplomatic / consular post.
Date of Decision: January 26, 2016
Extra info1: The visa application will be processed at the time of receipt of the documents concerned, even if the visa application has already been transmitted electronically before. Dispatch by diplomatic bag lasts one month. The processing time of visa application then depends on the complexity of the case.
Extra info2: The decision is normally sent on the day it is taken. A delay of a few days can, however, elapse before it is actually received by the diplomatic or consular post.
-------------------------------------
All the documents are submitted but, the status is not clear.

No proper response from VFS service over phone call..,
Every time they tell call after ONE week... it's almost SIX months..,

Totally feed up with these process...

Inputs will be appreciated..,

This indicates that the foreigners office in Belgium (as latest of 26th) has not received the (physical) documents sent by local consulate (Mumbai).

VFS cannot do much here Best is to contact consulate to check when did they send the documents and ask them to follow up the delivery of those documents.

-> Belgian consulate mumbai via phone - 022-26521016/ 022-26521017/ 022-26521019 - Get your case ID with Belgium consulate
-> Belgium consulate Mumbai via email - [email protected]

Do not forget to quote Applicant's First Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Passport # and Application Reference Number when you write to consulate.

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply, I have been ill. I see two dates of decisions, that confuses me. The first one is clear, they asked for more documents and you sent them. But the second one is repeating the exact message, so I am not sure whether they got your docs or not. But 6 months is an outrageous amount of time, I think I would go completely crazy if my application took that long. So, you're brave

By the way, what documents did they ask you to submit? And is your spouse an EU citizen or an Indian? If she's an EU citizen, 6 months is the time limit for the authorities to grant visas. Once they cross that time, your EU partner can reach out to SOLVIT.

If your spouse is an Indian citizen, there is not much you can do. By the way, VFS is not the right point of contact for follow up with visas, I think it's the Embassy. When I called the Embassy for the first time for follow up, the lady was so rude - she said it can take a year or more. I thought she was out of her mind and unsympathetic to the plight of other families. When I told her my husband is an EU citizen, only then she even bothered to give a half decent reply. And that's only because EU citizens have a legal recourse. But she shocked me.

I feel for all the couples, families who are separated by these neverending formalities. Please be patient and feel free to ask any questions.

hi Nailpainter,

Can you please advise the website or documents that appointing the max process Time is 6 months then authorities will grant the visa? As I will write them a follow up email because my visa already took 5 months and not hear anything from then. Thanks.

Hi,

I checked the English version of the following website :

https://dofi.ibz.be/sites/dvzoe/EN/Pages/home.aspx

But the page says that it is 'temporarily unavailable in English'. So you gotta go to the French version of it. And there you can see literally everything related to spouse visas of EU citizens' spouses.

If one is not married to an EU citizen, unfortunately they don't have the right to be in Europe. As the spouse of an EU citizen, one has more rights.

Hi nailpainter,

Congratulations for your marriage. My sister also hot registered in india(delhi) with her belgian husband almost a year back. And since then sh hs been facing constant hassles in getting her visa application through. Initially her noc was rejected by the Benlgium embassy for which they filed petition and won it. Then at the time of getting their marriage registered in India her marrige certificate captured incorrecy indian address for her husband. The whole can of worms haa started again for her. It would really really really mean a lot of you can provide any kind of suggestion here. Anything would be of great help. Many thanks in advnce. Hopefull of your reply.  Warmth, Mangla

Hello Nailpainter,

Although it's an old post. Could you please tell , how long did you have to wait for the passport after the status was updated to 'ACCORD' ?

It takes a week or so to get the passport stamped.

Hello Nailpainter,
I am a student from India currently applied for a student visa for Belgium.Its a long stay D type visa and was filed on 9th of Jan 2019. I went to the Belgium Embassy in New Delhi for an interview. They said it will be sent to Brussels for further investigation.They also provided me the website to check my application status,which is the DOFI (Immigration Office) website. I have seen your post and my status is as same as yours.Its showing my application was registered on 23rd Jan 2019 but it's been 2 months neither I have gotten any response nor the status of my application has changed. Its still showing "en traitement" which means "in process" and the two "extra info boxes" have identical statements to your pictures you posted. Can you please provide me with some information regarding the above and tell me what those "extra info boxes" actually mean. Thank you hope to hear from you soon.

Extra info boxes mean nothing in this case. Only option is to wait for the status to change.

Hello Aneesh,
What I meant was the statement"pending documents supporting the application are sent by the diplomatic bag" is written in French in the "extra info boxes" in the DOFI website ,can you tell me what this actually means. If you have some information kindly share .
Thank You.

Extra info boxes has no relevance if your status is still 'en traitement' .

Thank You for the information Aneesh.I just want to know one more thing,what is the maximum time limit for processing such a file?