Non-EU spouse family reunification for non-eu parents

Hello Panda88,

Welcome to Expat.com

Were you able to get insights on the matter since the day you posted your questions here?

We still hope someone on the forum will be able to assist you.

All the best,

Cheryl

Expat.com team

@Panda88

As you're in Netherlands, it's worth checking the exact rules on Family Reunification there. Some countries include parents in the "extended family" who may benefit from reunification. Perhaps they include parents if you can show that you have to support them/care for them.

If they have pensions, and they can qualify (depending on size of pension) for Bulgaria's D visa, then residence in Bulgaria would be an option. (A similar option exists in Spain with the very popular No Lucrativa Visa... but it's needs a larger pension - 2.5k euros per month - or a 30k euros chunk of savings.)

This would give them a base in the EU, with short, inexpensive flights (probably from Sofia with Wizzair, Ryanair) instead of long-haul. But they'd still need a home in Bulgaria, as the BG residence is subject to the 90 in 180 rule (visa-free) in other EU countries. (Your wife visiting BG on an NL permit is subject to the same rule.)

Many EU countries require Chinese passport holders to hold a tourist/Schengen visa, and the residence permit avoids this. Having an EU residence permit does seem to reduce the level of scrutiny and aggravation in comparison to a non-EU passport with no residence here.

Yes, after 5 years in Bulgaria, they can swap for a permanent residence permit, and can live in Bulgaria indefinitely. Visits to other EU countries is still visa-free for 90 in 180. However, most EU countries do have streamlined process for residence for holders of PR in another EU country. You'd have to check the specific rules in the Netherlands.

If you (as the EU citizen) did your EU Citizen Registration in Bulgaria, you could then do Family Reunification for your wife... then she could do it for both her parents. This might be quicker and easier than doing D visa in China. This would mean you could spend more than 90 days in Bulgaria if you wanted, even though your parents-in-law are limited to 90 when visiting NL. If you find a nice house in Bulgaria, then maybe the long summer holidays are spent here with the entire family... and they can visit you in NL for up to 6 months per year. Or you all live here, and you can see them every day. :-)

Hi  GWYNJ,

Thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately the Netherlands do not offer a family reunification for extended family:(

I am going to do some reading about the latter option you mentioned, it very much sounds like a better option.  A quick google search led me to believe prices of real estate are cheap compared to the Netherlands. Do you have a recommendation in which part I should look for a residence? We would like it to be a good investment as well as not to far from an airport and in a big city within a safe neighbourhood.

Thanks again for you insight!

@Panda88

Both property prices and living costs are substantially below the Netherlands. But a city property, especially one large enough to accommodate 4 adults and your children, would not be cheap.

Ryanair/Wizzair both have low-cost flights to the Netherlands, mostly from Sofia but also from Varna. The main airport for other airlines is Sofia, but there are also summer flights to Varna/Burgas and the popular Black Sea beaches.

This means the big city option is probably either Sofia or Plovdiv (for Sofia airport), or Varna (for Varna airport). I prefer Sofia airport and Plovdiv.

Most of Sofia/Plovdiv/Varna is safe, this should not be an issue. And Bulgarian property prices have been on an upswing for quite a few years... with Euro/Schengen coming soon.