FAMILY REUNION for CHILDREN with a BELGIAN parent

The visa for family reunification with BE citizen (ART 40) is given in request for a long term visa D in order to join husband/wife or father/mother who is a national of a country of the European Union and who lives in Belgium.

As a prior requirement, documents submitted must be legalised first.

To avoid any disappointment, applicants are advised to submit their complete files at least 4 working weeks before the intended date of departure.

From the 2 March 2015, Home Office in Brussels will ask applicants to pay an extra fee when applying for a visa D.

The additional fee will not be reimbursed if the visa has been refused and this fee is valid for the file only.

Hence applicants, who have been refused, will have to pay the fee Again.

Following applicants do not pay the additional fee:

• Applicants under 18 years old
• Family members of a citizen of the European Union requesting family reunification (article 40bis or 47/1)
• If the person being joined is a recognized refugee in Belgium
• For more detailed information on additional fee exemptions please check www.dofi.fgov.be

These fees have to be paid directly on the bank account of Home Office and payment can be done by the Belgian spouse/parent/employer.

The fees have to be paid, in euro, on the bank account of the Home Office in Brussels

IBAN BE57 6792 0060 9235

BIC PCHQBEBB

Bank : BPOST SA, Centrum Monnaie, 1000 Bruxelles

Beneficiary : SPF Intérieur, Office des étrangers, Chaussée d’Anvers 59B, 1000 Bruxelles

The person paying has to indicate a reference for the payment:

• Name and first name of applicant,
• Nationality of applicant,
• The date of birth of applicant, and
• Travel purpose (for.ex. ART 10, ART 40, ART 9 etc)

The reference of the payment needs to have this structure:

Name_First Name_Nationality_DD.MM.YYYY_Article(mention article of the Law of 15.12.1980)

Applicants applying for Belgium Long Stay Visa (D Visa) Category are requested to appear in person at the visa application center to register their biometrics which includes scans of all fingerprints and live digital photo.

In case you have already submitted your fingerprints for a previous Schengen visa application in the last 59 months, you are not required to submit them again.

However, If you are uncertain whether your fingerprints have been captured for a Schengen visa within the last 59 months, you are advised to appear in person.

Kindly note that, if it would appear that the fingerprints prove not to be present in the VIS system, you will be asked to reappear in person for new biometric data collection. To avoid this possible complication, you have the right to ask for your fingerprints to be taken again.

Applicants who apply for a family reunification in Luxembourg just need to present the original document signed by the Luxembourgish authorities and the application form with no need to present a full file again.

Please note:

• The applicable visa fee in LBP is as per the current exchange rate. It is subject to change without notice due to sudden foreign exchange fluctuations.
• Applicant shall be levied a service charge of euro 23.5 paid in LBP as per the exchange rate per application over and above visa fees (all applicable taxes included).

All fees are non-refundable.

Visa D - FAMILY REUNION for CHILDREN with a BELGIAN PARENT

(In case that your mother or father is Belgian citizen) or in case that your mother or father to be joined is spouse or partner of Belgian citizen)

File to be presented in 1 original and 2 copies

Required documents:

1. National passport into which a visa can be affixed and which is valid for more than 12 months
2. Completed and signed national Belgian visa application form with 2 recent color photograph (3.5x4.5) with white background glued on the application form
3. Copy of proof of payment of the contribution covering administrative costs (for applicants from the age of 18) https://dofi.ibz.be/sites/dvzoe/EN/Application-guides/Pages/Administrative%20fee.aspx
4. Copy of the identity page of your passport

1. From your mother or father to be joined in Belgium

5. Copy of the residence permit (front + back) or Belgian ID card
6. Copy of the Belgian ID card (front + back) of his/her Belgian spouse/partner
7. Proof of marriage or official cohabitation of your mother/father and Belgian spouse/partner (in case that your mother or father to be joined is spouse or partner of Belgian citizen)
8. Proof that the person being joined has sufficient accommodation: Copy of proof of ownership of a house/apartment or a registered (registration at the town hall) copy of the rental contract.
9. Proof (at least last six 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. Please find more information on this subject via the following link: https://dofi.ibz.be/sites/dvzoe/FR/Guidedesprocedures/Pages/Regroupement_familial/Les%20moyens%20de%20subsistance%20stables%2c%20r%C3%A9guliers%20et%20suffisants.aspx
10. Proof that the health insurance (mutualiteit/mutualité) of the person being joined agrees to cover the risks in Belgium for the visa applicant.

OR

Copy of private travel insurance of the visa applicant valid in Belgium and covering a minimum of 30.000€ medical costs for a minimum period of 3 months (This document does not have to be provided in case the parent in Belgium can prove that the child will be registered on his/her health insurance in Belgium)

2. From the visa applicant

11. Copy of birth certificate
12. Proof of child custody - Certificate from the municipality or the court stating that the care of the child has been entrusted or transferred exclusively to mother or father to be joined in Belgium

or

Written consent of the second parent giving the child custody to the one in Belgium

or

Copy of death certificate of the second parent (if any)

Remarks:

1. Additional documents, even if not featured in the list above, may be required by the Embassy during the process
2. Proof of sufficient financial means are not required if applicant is < 18 years old and alone joins the parent in Belgium.
3. If applicant is > 21 years old, the applicant has to prove he/she is completely dependent on the parent in Belgium.
4. If applicant is child of partner in a registered partnership, proof of financial means are required.
5. A later change to the purpose of the visit is not admissible. A prolongation of the visa is not possible. In both cases, a new application has to be entered.
6. For more detailed information on supporting documents, processing times, tracking the progress of your visa application, legal background and other immigration related topics, please refer to the website of the Immigration Office of Belgium: https://dofi.ibz.be/sites/dvzoe/FR/Guidedesprocedures/Pages/Regroupement_familial/Le_regroupement_familial.aspx

Click here for details information

Applicants need to submit your Application form with the new photo format, as explained below:

General

The photo must fulfill the norm specified by the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).

• Use plain light-coloured background.
• The photo must be no more than 6-months old.
• Not tilted picture (portrait style) showing both edges of face clearly.
• Close up of the head and top of the shoulders so that the face takes up 70–80% of the photograph.
• Photo in sharp focus and clear.

Photo Size

The photo for each visa applicant submitted must measure:

• The picture dimensions must be 240 pixels wide by 320 pixels high at least. A smaller picture will be rejected. For instance, a photo being 235 pixels by 320 pixels is not valid.
• On the other hand, the photo should keep a proportion of 3 x 4 (width x height) within limits. However, 250 x 340 pixels picture would be valid, but not a 290 x 340 pixels one.
• Finally, the image weight (size in Kbytes) can never be bigger than 120 Kbytes. Finally, the image weight (size in Kbytes) can never be bigger than 120 Kbytes.

Resolution

• An image resolution is measured in DPI (dots per inch) and it's mainly used to control printing quality. Therefore, higher resolution means better printing quality.
• Photos resolution should be 300 dpi, so, when you scan the image, check this parameter carefully. However, bear in mind that the higher the resolution, the bigger the picture.
• The only image format accepted is JPEG (Join Photograph Expert Grup Format). The other image formats such as BMP, TIFF, GIF, PNG, etc. will be rejected (a warning will be shown).
  • Attaching the Photo to the Application form
• Glue one photograph to the application form in the designated space.

Note: If children are traveling with their parents and are included inside the passport of the mother and/or the father, one photograph for each children MUST be glued to the application form of the father or the mother, depending on whom are they traveling with.

Please follow these instructions carefully. If the photograph presented do not meet these requirements your application will be considered incomplete.

Processing time for a short term stay (Visa Schengen).

As a general rule, once a Schengen visa application is submitted, a decision is taken within 15 calendar days. This period may, in individual cases, be extended up to 30 days and, exceptionally, 60 days, if a more detailed examination of your application and/or additional documents are required

As for the long term visa that depends on the examination of applications submitted