Belgium Visa Processing Timeline and Documentation

@shivamgrover21

It's helpful to me👍

Hi,

Yesterday I got my work permit, my employer request me to begin the visa application procedure without having the residence permit, is that a right way to proceed?

Yes.

@shivamgrover21 Hi Shivam.. Congratulations on getting the visa.

I have few queries, hope u can answer it would be of great help.

I have submitted my medical and Appostille pcc at the time of WP, will i require these documents again at the time of visa?

I only have another original copy of PCC with me but not Appostille.

Hi,

I Applied for Belgium business visa and it is showing, how many days it will take to process the visa ?

Visa Application Date: Oct 4 2022

Date of registration visa application by Immigration Office: Oct 17 2022

Decision/Dossier Status: Pending

Hi,

I Applied for Belgium business visa and it is showing, how many days it will take to process the visa ?

Visa Application Date: Oct 4 2022

Date of registration visa application by Immigration Office: Oct 17 2022

Decision/Dossier Status: Pending

Hi,

I applied for visa D with a single permit, then they call me to bring the employment contract and diplomas to the embassy for an interview.

What kind of interview I'm going to have?

Hi

I have applied for VISA on 7th Nov 2022 through Mumbai VFS after receiving my SP

How long does it take for the visa?

@single permit

Usually there is no interview as such. Its more of document submission and biometrics

@Nipun Krishnan

Hi,

hope you already got your visa. Can I ask how long did it take? And where did you check the process? Thanks!

Hello guys,

My passport has been still under progress at the consulate in Turkey for the last 8 weeks after I have already waited 3,5 months to obtain WP and Annex 46.

Is there anyone exposed to a similar exceptionally long processing time at the consulate? It would be great to hear from people, who recently managed to obtain back their passports from consulates, how long their visa process took at consulates.

Thanks in advance,

@guest523619 It's been 7 weeks since I applied for single permit visa at VFS Istanbul. I guess all applicants from last few months are in the same situation

Hi there, maybe someone could help. I am on a single permit in Belgium (Brussels) already (my second week). I am in Brussels for a traineeship for 4 months. So far staying with my friends, and most probably will have to stay with them for the whole 4 months, as they offered and do not mind. At the same  time, I need to register with the commune (haven't done that yet). Friends are OK with that(registration), but they do not want to give me/sign any rent contract (even with rent specified at zero). Can I still get domiciliation/registration at the commune (I am a non-EU national) without the rent contract? Would the commune/police checking the premises ask for it? What other solutions do you possibly see here (other than looking for official accommodation with a rent contract)? Thank you.

Hi All, applying for Long Term Visa D after obtaining Annex 46. In the list of requirements, it states that a flight reservation is required.

Is this necessary as I don't want to book a flight without knowing how long this would take.

Anyone else not submit a flight reservation?

Thanks,

@guest523619 Hello have you received your visa? (Type d) I will also apply for visa d in february 2023. I was wondering about the waiting time in Turkey?

@Ceren Yuce Hello, I applied for Visa D on September 22 and could get it back on December 6. The processing time was extensively long during these last 2 months. However, as per what I have heard from the people, who applied in November unlike the applications in September and October, the processing time has recently started to return to normal around 2 weeks, even sometimes within 5 working days. I do wish you good luck and lots of patience in your visa process!

friends, the company applied for a d visa on my behalf in Antwerp, it's been 7 months, I'm still waiting, no response, what should I do?

hello Friends

need an information.

I have applied for visa application online on visaonweb, i have submitted the application but unfortunately there was mistake in my name.  i am not able to edit the application.

what could be the solution to edit the form before a visit the application center,

thanks

Hi all

One of the most commonly asked questions here relates to the waiting times of family reunification Visa D. Understandably so, as no one (or almost no one) likes to be separated from their loved ones for a prolonged period of time.

I therefore decided to take an analytical look at all the information available here on the forum regarding the waiting times, mostly from 2018 and onwards, and get more information on the average and median waiting times. The waiting time starts as from the date that the request is submitted to the embassy. This analysis was only possible thanks to all the helpful contributions from the members here regarding their experience.

Total sample size: 22 items.

I created a table showing the waiting time in buckets of 1 month, going from 0-1 months to >6 months:

Waiting time  # of samples  % of samples  Cumulative % of samples

0-1 months       0                              0%                0%

1-2 months       2                              9%                9%

2-3 months       6                            27%             36%

3-4 months       6                            27%             64%

4-5 months       3                           14%              77%

5-6 months       3                           14%             91%

> 6 months       2                            9%               100%

We can draw a few interesting conclusions from this:

• It is unlikely that your waiting time will be less than 2 months, as only 9% of the visas were approved within 2 months.
• There is slightly more than 1/3 chance that your waiting time will be less than 3 months, as 36% of visas got approved within 3 months.
• The majority of the visas are approved within 4 months, 64% to be precise. This implies that the median waiting time for the visa is between 3 and 4 months, and based on the data I have, the median waiting time was exactly 3 months and 13 days.
• 23% of the visas took longer than 5 months to get approved. The longest waiting time was reported at 6 months and 24 days. More on this below on how to avoid such long waiting times.

Here some information and a few tips & tricks regarding the waiting times:

• Visa processing time will take longer during the holiday season, this is even explicitly mentioned on the government website. The main holiday season in Belgium is July and August, where people often take 2 to 4 weeks of leave. If your visa processing runs over this period, it might take longer than average. Other important holidays are the Christmas holidays late December (the government even shuts down their offices from 24 December to 1st of January) and the Easter holiday in April.
• The single best way within your control to keep the waiting time as short as possible is to ensure a complete file. In many of the cases where it took 5 months or longer, it was due to additional information requests from the government. When you provide the additional information, it can take one month (or even longer) for the government to process this again and finally approve your file. There are also cases where it only took a few days, but you can't count on that! Therefore, make absolutely sure that your file is complete. Do not rely on the embassy for this, they often don't know exactly what information is needed and they might tell you everything is complete, only to get an additional request for information afterwards from the government. The median waiting time above includes samples with incomplete information and therefore longer waiting times. If I exclude these samples from the analysis, I estimate that the mean waiting time for complete files is approx. 3 months (rather than 3.5 months).
• The maximum waiting time for reunification with an EU citizen is by definition 6 months. For non-EU citizens, this can be up until 9 months. However in this data set and as mentioned, none of the cases took longer than 7 months.
• Some of the embassies can process family reunification visa without sending this to the government in Brussels. In this case, it will only take 1 to 3 weeks. However this seems to be very exceptional as usually, the embassy decides to send the request to the government anyway as they don't want to take the responsibility.
• It is possible to track your request on the website of the IBZ, however it can take up until 2.5 months for your request to appear there. I even have seen cases where the request never appeared on the website, but the visa got approved in the meantime. The government will look at the original date of request when chronologically processing your visa, they will not look at the date when the request appeared on the website. Therefore, there is no need to stress if it takes long to appear on the website, it will not delay the processing of your visa.

That's all, I hope this is helpful for those currently waiting.

Ruben.

hi, anyone here has an update with their visa applications from September 2022?

I applied visa C for marriage last September 23, 2022 but havent heard anything from IBZ yet.

Hello everyone, here is my Visa D timeline for myself under a single permit and for my husband for family reunification.

1 February 2023 - Visa D application submitted and application package mailed to the Consulate in Montreal.

Application package includes:

For me (I already received my Annexe 46 single permit)

Two (2) completed Visa D applications

Copy of Annex 46

Proof of sufficient lodging - 30-day reservation at a hotel

Dummy Flight booking

Proof of financial means - credit card

Proof of the payment of the administrative fee (which was paid in September when my employer applied for the single permit)

Postal Money order for the consular fees.

Two (2) passport pictures

Passport

For my husband for a family reunification

Two (2) completed Visa D applications

Copy of Zaza's Annex 46

Marriage Certificate (duly legalized)

Medical Certificate (duly legalized)

Health insurance - Attestation from a mutuelle

Criminal Records (duly legalized)

Proof of sufficient lodging - 30-day reservation at a hotel

Proof of significant means - Zaza's work contract showing that "le regroupant dispose d'au moins 1.969 euros (€) net/mois."

Proof of significant means - credit card

Dummy flight booking

Proof of the payment of the administrative fee to the Immigration Office in Belgium

Postal Money order for the consular fees.

Two (2) passport pictures

Passport

I also had seen that a "déclaration & intégration" might be needed. There does't seem to be a document available yet on the Office des Etrangers website, but just in case we added the following language in a cover letter to the application and had my husband sign it - Je comprends les valeurs et les normes fondamentales de la société belge et j'agirai en conformité avec celles-ci. Je suis également informé du fait que mes efforts d'intégration dans la société belge seront contrôlés par l'Office des étrangers.

@Zaza00

Hello, did you get the visa? and the family reunification visa?

Hi all,

I understand I need to apply for the Visa for myself and my spouse together. I need some guidance on some of the documents required for my spouse's application. I have highlighted my queries in blue.

• Copy of the residence permit (front + back) - Do we submit Annex 46 for this?
• Proof that the person being joined has sufficient accommodation:Copy of proof of ownership of a house/apartment or a registered copy of the rental contract -  What proof is generally shown here?AirBNB or Hotel accommodation will work? and for how much duration?
• Proof (at least six last months) that the person being joined has stable, regular and sufficient means of subsistence to meet his own needs and those of the members of his family and avoid them becoming a burden on the public authorities. - What proof is generally shown here? Will the employee contract work here?
• Legalisation of documents for spouse - What all documents need legalisation. We have already legalised the Birth Certificate, PCC, Marriage Certificate. Is there any other document which requires legalization for my spouse?

Thanks !

Did any one recently apply work Visa Long term from India? If so what is the timeline? Than

@Zaza00

I am doing the same procedure for me and my family.

I have below queries

1. Regarding health insurance.

What is Attestation from a mutuelle.

From where do you get it.

Did you got any insurance copy from your employer which stated health insurance being covered for Family?

2. For spouse visa what is the duration you entered in your visa application form.

Did you also put 6 months as Shivam did?

Looking forward for your reply.

Hi All,

I was filling up the visaonweb form for my spouse. My query is what to select under inviting organisation category? only company and school are the option and none apply to my spouse?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

@ sijojohn0202 :

How can we help you?

Do you have any questions about belgium visa?

Thank you,

Priscilla

Expat.com Team

Respected sir,

This is the pdf that the agency had sent me and told me that this is the annex 46. Can you please confirm this whether this is an orginal or fake document. Kindly do it as early as possible.

Thanking you

Hello,

Have anyone idea that how long take single permit in Wallonia ?

@Rubenslash Hello i apply for family reunion visas 2 december 2022

Date de l'enregistrement de la demande de visa par l'Office des étrangers:    Jan 31 2023

Date de la décision:    May 25 2023

Décision:    En attente de la réception de documents étayant la demande de visa envoyés par valise diplomatique par le poste diplomatique/consulaire

I sent required documents at 14 June 2023 what do you think?

Hi all, does this mean I've been accepted? I didn't receive anything via email yet.

@Priscilla hi I Applied for cohabitation Visa on the 15th March 2023 and till now I have received my passport

Anyone here who applied for Family reunion visa D ,non EU , late January 2023, who has got  feedback or any form of information with regards to their applications .

@mosdev7 Hello when did it get registered on system ? And when did you receive it ? We have applied for this one, i was wondering about the processing time. Thanks

Hi ,

I am in the process of applying Visa for myself and my spouse and my company wants to do GAD attestion  for my wife Birth Certificate which will take long, however some attestation agent say that GAD is not needed , SDB attestion + MEA Attestion & Apostile will suffice.

Can someone help me in this regards as my wife is born in Jharkhand.

Regards

Yaseen

What is the timeline for the spouse applying alone? Embassy says it's 4-9 months. Is there any way to fast-track that ?

@nareshmk Current timeline is 2-4 months. You still have time.

@yaseenyoga MEA attestation is enough. You just need to get the Birth Certificate legalized by MEA and should have re-issued within last 6 month.

Hi anyone that applied short stay cohabitaion or marriage visaa  after June 2023 that has gotten any feedback?