If your partner or close family member lives in Belgium, you can join them from your home country through a Belgium family visa. It often gets called Belgium dependent visa. This article provides you with all you need to know; requirements, application, and FAQs.
Which family members can apply for a Belgium family visa?
The relatives or family members who are eligible to apply for a family visa are the below:
- Law partner or spouse *
- Single children under 21 years old.
- Children over 18 who are disabled or your partner is their guardian.
- Parents**
*Spouses must be 21 years old. In case the marriage happens before the resident moves to Belgium, the age limit is 18 years old. The spouse needs to live with the partner, and he/she may not live independently.
Belgium’s national law does not recognize polygamy or marrying several wives. If you have more than one wife, only one of them can join you in Belgium.
The same-sex partners must provide proof of relationship for one year. The marriage must be officially registered.
In case a partnership was registered in one of the below lists, this partnership is “equivalent to marriage.”
- Denmark
- Finland
- Germany
- Iceland
- Norway
- Sweden
- the UK
**If the applicant is an unaccompanied minor benefiting from protection status.
If the above rulers are not rued for you, you need to apply for a tourist visa to stay with your relative.
If the child is for the partner’s living abroad, he/she needs to have legal custody or guardian over the child.
Your document must be in one of the following languages. But ask the embassy in what language they require them to be:
- Dutch
- French
- German
- Sometimes English
A verified translation office must do the translation, and often they need to be apostilled by the organizations in your home country.
Belgium family visa requirements
The list of requirements you need to prepare are the following ones;
Application form
You need to get the application form from the Belgium embassy in your home country. If VFS Global is responsible for visa processing in your home country, you need to visit their website and complete the form they provide.
Passport
Your passport must be valid at the time of application and not older than ten years ago.
Proof of relationship
Whoever is applying to join the resident in Belgium needs to provide proof of relationship. It could be a marriage certificate or a birth certificate.
Health insurance
It must be valid in the entire EU and Belgium and cover expenses of 30.000 EUR. Also, it must cover Covid-19 expenses as well.
Clean record certificate
Ask the Belgium embassy whether they need the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Justice verification or not.
Medical certificate
Appinat might need to provide a medical certificate that he/she is healthy and pose no threat to the public.
Note: You need two copies of all the mentioned documents on the A4 page.
The sponsor is living in Belgium
- A copy of the residence permit
- Proof to have enough funds
- Proof of suitable accommodation for the family
- Health insurance
- Proof of income from a verified source.
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Belgium family visa application
The way applicants have to apply for a Belgium family visa is as follows:
Step 1. Are you eligible to apply for a family visa?
Not every family member is eligible to apply for a Belgium family visa. Only the spouse, parents, and children of the sponsor living in Belgium can apply. They need to meet a few rules as well.
Read the above section and see if you are eligible to apply for a visa or not. If not, what can you do about it, or what documents do you need to prepare.
Step 2. Gather the requirements
There is a list of supporting documents or requirements for a family visa. Applicants have to prepare and submit them to the Belgium embassy.
See the section above to know the list and how to gather them. Also, the sponsor living in Belgium needs to collect some documents as well.
Be careful that everything must be according to the detailed instructions.
Step 3. Visa meeting with the embassy
Schedule a visa meeting with the Belgium embassy in your home country. See how you can get one; a phone call, in-person visit, or through their website.
Visit the embassy in person on the exact date and bring all the requirements.
You submit the documents to the authorities, pay the fees and answer the questions. They will guide you on the next steps to take or further documents to submit.
Step 4. Moving to Belgium and residency
It takes time for the embassy to work on your application and decide. The processing time for a family visa takes a bit longer, and you might have to wait about six to nine months. It’s up to different factors; one is that how busy the embassy is.
When the visa is ready, they will notify you to get it. Now you can move to Belgium.
When you arrive in Belgium, you only have one week to get your residence permit or foreigner identity Card.
You have to visit the local municipal administration offices/town hall. It might get called maison communale/gemeentehuis.
They require the documents that you submitted for the visa and your passport to issue the card.
Can partners work in Belgium?
It is up to the sponsor’s status whether the partner can work or not. If the sponsor has a student visa, the partner may not work. But if the sponsor has a work permit, the partner can work as well.
In most cases, the partner needs to apply for a work permit to work legally in the country.
Let’s sum up…
Non-EU residents in Belgium can bring their close family members to the country through a Belgium family visa.
This article has explained who is eligible to apply, the requirements, the application process, and FAQs.
If you have questions, write them down in the comment section. The Visa Library team will respond and guide you on what to do.
- Published by
- Max-B.