COHABITATION with BELGIAN or NON-EU citizen

To ensure application is processed without any delay, following are the documents to be included.

• Complete and Signed visa application form.
• Original Passport and three (3) clear copies of applicant’s current passport datapage.
• Supporting documentation as per the relevant checklist.

Applicants are requested to read carefully the list of required documents that need to be submitted together with their visa application. Please make sure that you have all the documents indicated in the list, since an incomplete file can lead to the refusal of your visa.To avoid any disappointment, applicants are advised to submit their complete files at least three working weeks before the intended date of departure. Please note you can submit your visa application up to 3 months prior to your date of travel.

Guarantees for return (assessment of migration risk): The applicant is requested to provide as much information as possible to document his/her family background, professional and socio-economic status, ownership of land or real estate (for instance : proof of family bonds with his/her country of origin, proof of regular income and stable source of revenues from the applicant and/or his/her partner, proof of property, etc.)

This information is essential to correctly judge the intention of the applicant to leave the Schengen area before the expiry of his/her visa.

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.

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 C - for COHABITATION with BELGIAN or NON-EU 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 visa application form with 1 recent color photograph (5x3cm) with white background glued on the application form
3. Copy of the identity page of your passport

1. From the partner to be joined in Belgium

4. Copy of the residence permit (front + back) or Belgian ID card
5. Certificate of civil status proving that you are not married or in an official partnership at the moment
6. Proof that the person being joined has sufficient accommodation: Copy of proof of ownership of a house/apartment or a copy of the rental contract.
7. Proof 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,%20r%C3%A9guliers%20et%20suffisants.aspx
8. Proof that the person being joined holds health insurance covering the risks in Belgium for himself or herself (mutualiteit/mutualité)

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.

2. From the visa applicant

9. The documents indicating that you have sufficient personal means of subsistence: copy of updated bank statement/bank book or proof of your profession and copy of recent pay slips etc.

OR

Original of guarantee letter “3bis” issued by the city hall in Belgium with its annexes + 1copy https://dofi.ibz.be/sites/dvzoe/FR/Documents/Annexe_03_02.pdf

10. Certificate of civil status proving that you are not married at the moment

OR

11. Copy of divorce certificate

OR

12. Copy of death certificate of your previous spouse / partner
13. Medical certificate (+1 copy) attesting that the applicant is not carrying any of the diseases which might endanger public health
14. Certificate attesting to the lack of any convictions for crimes or offences under common law (+1 copy)

3. From Both partner

15. Proof of stable and permanent character of your relationship (photographs, letters, mails, telephone bills, money transfers, copies of previous visas and immigration stamps, signed declarations of friends and relatives, proof of holidays together, etc.)

Remarks:

1. Minimum age of both partners must be 21 years old. ( 18 years old if you and your partner have lived together at least 1 year before your arrival in Belgium)
2. Additional documents, even if not featured in the list above, may be required by the Embassy during the process
3. The visa fee is non-refundable if the visa is denied.
4. You can submit your application at the earliest three months before your planned visit
5. The type of visa is a C-type visa (short stay). Once the cohabitation is registered in Belgium the applicant will receive a Belgian residence card with which he/she can stay in Belgium;
6. The type of visa that we issue for cohabitation is a type C/Schengen visa. In general, for type C/Schengen visa, a return flight ticket is required. However, as an exception, for cohabitation, a one way flight ticket is sufficient for the Belgian authorities. As all airlines staff members are not always aware of this exception, if you have bought/want to buy a one-way flight ticket, we advise you to take contact with the airline before departure and check if they will let you board the aircraft.
7. The non EU-citizen has to prove that he/she is officially living in Belgium since more than 1 year.
8. Please note that the city hall in Belgium might require your original legalized birth certificate upon your registration in Belgium.
9. 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.
10. For more detailed information on supporting documents, processing time, 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/Declarer_une_cohabitation_legale.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