Family Reunification (F-card) article 40bis

Hello,

Augustus 2022???????

That's nearly one year, it should never take that long.... something is missing in your story

@AlexFromBelgium August 2023 so I really hope to get it in 2 months. Is it true that the Immigration office may request insurance and tax documents? My husband, who holds a Dutch passport and a residence permit in Belgium, is employed by a UK-based company and pays taxes there. It's a somewhat complicated situation, and I was wondering if anyone here has encountered a similar situation. Thank you!

hola.... keep cool then, you'll never have a F card before 6 months the date you'll receive your annexe 19ter/european's version can't remember which one, but it should be the 19ter if I remember correctly.

That's Belgian's administration we're talking about 0

@Nuri E. Hi, I have also applied for a residence permit with my EU citizen partner. They asked me similar documents as you. They haven't asked/mentioned anything related to my partners job, insurance or tax. It's been 5 months that i have applied and I have not heard anything from the immigration office or the commune. As far as I know, it is really unlikely that they take a decision before 6 months.

The commune told me to take an appointment one day after the expiration of my orange card which is the end of 6 months period mentioned on my annexe 19ter. I know that its really annoying to wait for such a long time especially when we can't travel with the orange card but there is nothing else than being patient... I think that you're file is totally ok and there is nothing to worry about. All you need is to wait

@Clouderzzz Thank you very much for sharing your experience! I hope you'll get your F card soon! It's nice to communicate with someone who is going through the same circumstances 🙌🏻

@Nuri E. yes same! I hope you'll get an answer asap

I'll keep this post updated when i'll have an answer from the commune/immigration office.

Little updated : i have contacted the commune and they told me that they have not received anything from the immigration office yet and they also said that they don't expect any answer before end of july which the expiry date of my orange card

@Clouderzzz Hello! I also contacted them recently and they said the same thing. I don't expect to hear from them until mid-August. This is when my orange card expires. Let's stay in touch here and share our updates

little update : I have contacted the immigration office and they told me that at the moment they are working on files from january.

i guess in few weeks those who applied in january will have an answer

@Clouderzzz Hello! Thanks for the update! I filed my application in February. I guess, I'll hear from the Immigration Office next month 🙌🏻 Let me know how it goes with you too!

Update:  I received a post from the commune asking me to come with my orange card, 1 photo and 25 euros which means that my file is approved!!! so finally it took me 5.5 months. 2 weeks earlier

Hope you'll have news soon!

@Clouderzzz Omg, congratulations! Very happy for you!

@Nuri E.

hi,

please do you mind sharing the timeline it took you for your visa Approval?

My fiancé applied for the short stay visa to marry and once he comes and we get married we will be applying for the reunification like you did.

I have seen many forums with info on the long stay visa, but I would like to know the timelines for the short stay visa to marry or cohabitation. He applied in June and last week he received an email that the file had been sent to the immigration office in Belgium. I am wondering how the process will go.

thank you in advance.

@Nuri E. Thank you so much I hope that you can get answer soon as well

@BecksOsei Hello!

I applied for a Schengen visa (90 days). My application was considered longer than expected. Taking approximately 8 weeks, or slightly longer. When my visa was finishing, my husband and I visited the commune to inquire about the possibility of applying for family reunification within Belgium. In my case, we were already married. We were required to submit our marriage certificate. It has now been 5 months, and I’m hopeful to get my F card soon. 



In your case, did your fiancé mention that he was applying specifically to get married in Belgium? I’m not sure if they have different approval procedures for this situation. 

I hope you’ll get it sorted and wish you the best 🙏🏻🙂

@Nuri E. thanks for your reply. I really hope you get an answer soon on your f card.

yes so he applied for a short stay (90 days) visa to get married so not the tourist or family visit but in view to marry here.

our file was sent to the immigration office about 10 days ago, which was 2 weeks from when the visa application was submitted. Two weeks is supposed to be the timeframe in which they give response for short stay but due to the purpose of the visa it has now been forwarded to immigration office and I really wonder how long it will take for a decision. I assume yours too took longer than 15 days for an approval because it was sent to the immigration office right?

by the way has it been essy to get things done with the orange card? Ex: finding a job, opening bank accounts etc? I wonder how it will be for my fiancé when he comes

thanks

@BecksOsei Good afternoon! Yes, my file was also sent to the immigration office. Unfortunately, in these cases, the consideration period is longer than usual. I would say: you might hear from them when it has been at least 4 weeks This is what I was told.

Regarding the orange card, I received it quite quickly, maybe a week after the police checked my registration. Currently,  I'm in the process of opening a bank account and still looking for a job I'll keep you posted once I have an update. Hopefully, everything will work out for you and your fiance

@Nuri E. Hello, please according to your experience, what documents did you and your spouse have to submit to the commune for family reunification when you arrived Belgium in order to get your orange card

Hello! I just wanted to thank everyone who was involved in this post. Today, after 6 months of waiting, I finally got my F card!

@Grace Great Sorry for the late reply, I haven't checked this forum in a long time. I mentioned the requested documents from me in the first post above: passport, marriage certificate, and proof of residence address.

Good luck and best regards!

Hello,

Thanks for sharing all the informations towards F card application,

I have the same issue with you that my orange card is expired in 2 days, 7/11/2023, but I still didnt receive any updates. I have sent email to them but no reply.

So I am wondering if you received the decision on the last day exactly? 

Hi,

you don't give enough details about your current situation...

Communes doesn't give the F card after 6 months by default since the news immigration laws from the 22th may 2023.

If your orange card is expiring, you must go to the commune to extend its validity until the final decision!

@AlexFromBelgium

thanks so much for your reply~

I still have a question towards the new immigration law:

they are not providing an F card automatically after 6 month, does it only for the case that whose partner is EU citizens or both EU and Belgian?

@AlexFromBelgium Hi Alex, Do you have link to any article or official publication regarding this change in the law? I would like to read it so please could you share it here. Thanks!

@Owen R > nationality of the partner doesn't matter => no more F card automatically after 6 months.

@ARMaliq > case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Diallo ruling of June 27, 2018 ( C-246/17 ), as well as the recent case law of the Conseil d'État (ruling no. 255.275 of December 15, 2022).

@AlexFromBelgium

Thank you for your response. We have contacted the commune, and they confirmed that the decision has not been made yet (Which I have already waited for 6 months that my orange card is expired). The commune has scheduled an appointment for me in December. When I inquired about the possibility of receiving the final decision on that day, they mentioned that they are uncertain, and it could either be accepted or delayed again. This raises the question of whether they can continue to delay without reaching any decision after seven months?

With the new laws, they can extend without a defined delay yeah...

Up until now, immigration, don't exceed much the 6 months period much so far... so you should have your answer pretty soon.

As long as you extend your orange card, 0 problem & just wait.