The Paper Chase for a Belgium Visa


I now had less than three months to go until I took a leap of faith over the pond to Brussels. To say that I was slightly nervous about getting all of my cohabitation visa documents in order on time is a huge understatement. I’d already called my “local” US Embassy in New York and had been told that they no longer processed cohabitation visas for Belgium. As a result I was left with no choice but to submit my visa application to the authorities in Brussels. I question to this day whether this is really the case, and regret not putting more effort forth to contact other Embassy locations. If I had known what was awaiting me in Belgium, I would have tried much harder to complete the cohabitation visa application process in the US before leaving. Alas, I was neither so wise nor so motivated and I spent much of that time scurrying around trying to make sure that I had all of the correct documents with the correct notarization or apostille in a pile ready to move with me to Brussels.

I was fairly unprepared for the amount of time that I would spend on preparing my visa documents. They all involved trips to various municipal buildings and offices and I must have made a million trips between the State Records Office, Secretary of State, Local Police Station and Kinkos. Luckily, I lived in a manageably sized city and could jump from one to another quite easily. Nevertheless, it really took some planning to get to each during business hours.

Most importantly, if you do not already have a passport, I highly recommend that you budget at least two months for your passport processing time alone. In a bind, you have the option for expedited service, but this costs an additional $60 for the processing and then $13 for overnight delivery. Once you have a passport, as a US citizen you do not need to apply for a visa initially just to enter Belgium. With a US passport you may enter freely and then remain in the Schengen area for up to 90 days as a tourist without a Schengen Visa. If you are coming from another country you may need a visa in order to enter Belgium.

Next post in my journey to get a Cohabitation Visa: The Logistics of Moving to Belgium

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  1. #1 by Andy on January 15, 2014 - 12:06 pm

    Hi,
    I plan to move to BE in about 9 months (cohabitation BE citizen).
    One of the criteria for receiving the Visa is proof of health insurance for the first 3 months of the stay.
    however, no insurance company is willing to give me such an insurance for 9 month from now, so i’m in a bit of a cycle here.

    I can’t lodge my visa application in the embassy without a proof of health insurance > Can’t provide such proof so far in advance.

    is there anyway around this?
    can i lodge my application and provide the proof of insurance later?
    Is there a document that my BE girlfriend can sign that holds her accountable for any medical related bills that may occur?

    Thanks,
    Andy

    • #2 by Belgium Cohabitant on January 15, 2014 - 2:48 pm

      You could also purchase travel medical insurance as far in advance that you can and make sure that it continues through your first 3 months in Belgium. It is relatively inexpensive if it doesn’t include coverage in the United States.

      • #3 by Andy on January 16, 2014 - 1:10 pm

        This was a pretty good idea actually 🙂
        I created a travel insurance from now till my flight + 3 first months,

        Wish me luck, in the embassy next week applying 🙂

        Andy

        • #4 by Belgium Cohabitant on January 16, 2014 - 4:20 pm

          Good Luck!!

          • #5 by Andy on January 27, 2014 - 4:44 pm

            Updating about my situation:

            Went to the embassy, all is good with my papers, however,
            since my Girlfriend does not have an income in Belgium (we don’t live there) they don’t want to accept the application!
            We showed them her and my savings, they didn’t care!

            Finally they agreed to accept the application only if her dad signs that he will take care of me financially under the family re-unification document…

            Embarrassed to ask him for that.

            Any ideas if I should just apply directly in Belgium?

          • #6 by Belgium Cohabitant on January 28, 2014 - 1:59 pm

            You could apply directly when you arrive in Belgium, but you may have the same problem if they don’t consider you to be financially solid. Another option, if you have a job in Belgium you could declare that you are financially responsible for her.

  2. #7 by Andy on November 21, 2013 - 8:29 am

    Hi,
    thank you for all the profound information that you are sharing here, few questions from my end:

    1. What are the differences between a C and D Cohabitation Visas?
    2. Can you work for ANY employer once you have a Cohab. Visa and your partner is a Belgian citizen?
    3. When applying for the Visa (embassy), do you need to translate also:
    – Bank statements
    – Paychecks
    – Insurances

    If so, do they need to be notarized also?

    Thanks,
    Andy

    • #8 by Belgium Cohabitant on November 22, 2013 - 4:28 am

      1. The type C visa allows you to stay in the Schengen Area for 90 days and the D visa is for stays longer than 90 days
      2. If your partner is an EU citizen and your application is approved you do not need a work permit to work in Belgium. I would imagine this includes any employer but there are exceptions to every rule in Belgium so your best bet is to double check with the foreigners employment office
      3. You normally should not need to translate or notarize your financial documents, but you might need to with insurance. It is really up to you commune and what they request

    • #9 by Andy on March 6, 2014 - 9:56 am

      Update, and some useful info:

      The consul has signed off my documents and request, and my papers are on the way to Brussels for approval.

      For ppl in my situation where there is no income proof in Belgium yet, there is a need to present a sponsorship letter which is called “annexe 3bis” and can be obtained at the townhall in Belgium and needs to be signed there, need the owner to add photo copy of ID card, Proof of last 3 months of Salary, or if self-employed, last year tax payments.

      Here’s a link to the doc in French and Dutch:

      FR/EN:
      https://dofi.ibz.be/sites/dvzoe/FR/Documents/Annexe_03_02.pdf

      NL/EN:

      I’m now patiently waiting for my Visa request to get approved, can take upto 6 months according to my Embassy in Tel Aviv.

      Cheers,
      Andy

      • #10 by Belgium Cohabitant on March 6, 2014 - 2:47 pm

        Andy, thanks for the great info and update!

  3. #11 by Ana Elisa on October 23, 2013 - 9:08 am

    Hi!
    Months ago, when we started searching for information about the cohabitation visa in Belgium, I found your page and read many of the comments and details. It was quite helpful, thank you!
    Our first application was denied for insuficient proof that we knew each other for 2 years, but now we are waiting for our second application to be processed and hope it’ll work out because that fact is now ok.
    I wrote a post on my blog about what steps we had to take in our town:

    http://www.anaelisamiranda.com/1/post/2013/10/cohabitation-in-belgium.html

    • #12 by Belgium Cohabitant on October 23, 2013 - 12:19 pm

      Great information thanks for sharing! Good Luck!

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