F-card cohabitation and break-up

Good afternoon.

The law states that in order not to automatically lose your right to reside, the partnership must indeed last at least 3 years, and you must be able to prove that you have housing and financial means or employment.

However, the law does not explicitly say that your residence permit will be unconditionally and automatically revoked in the event of  termination of the partnership. Three years of cohabitation only helps to meet one of the conditions for retaining your residence permit. Therefore, the immigration office will still assess the situation before making a decision. If you can convince DVZ (Immigration Office) of your intentions, you have a good chance of retaining your right to reside, although the type of card will change (it will be an A card instead of F).

I recommend that you consult a lawyer to submit your case. This is precisely the kind of complex situation where legal assistance is necessary and important (usually, simple questions with clear answers are addressed here, but your case is different).

Regarding registration at the same address, this will indeed be the trigger for the immigration office, even more than the official termination of cohabitation. From the date your addresses are no longer the same, DVZ will consider the date of the divorce.

Of course, the easiest and least painful way would be to agree with your partner to postpone the change of address and the termination of the partnership until May 2025. This would give you almost a 100% chance of retaining the F card.

However, if your partner does not agree to this, the best course of action for you would be to consult with a lawyer, end the partnership, register at a new address as soon as possible, and submit the documents that the lawyer advises to the municipality.

I am very sorry that this has happened to you, but I want to encourage you by saying that things are not as bad as they seem. Belgium is an open and democratic country, there is no forced deportation, and skilled labor is highly valued here.

I wish you all the best and hope for a positive resolution to this situation.

@Antoine645 thank you very much for your response. If there is any good immigration lawyer, I will be grateful for any recommendations!

Hello , first of all im sorry to hear your situation. Secondly one of the case i would like to share with you but definitely not to not to drive you to despair.

One of non EU person was in a relation with a Belgian person. They broke up , after a while non EU person invited to municipality. His F card taken by municipality and given an Annex for a few months . I dont know how is the process now. This was happened in 2020ies.

@maharaji1984 thanks for sharing. do you know if the non-eu partner managed to stay in Belgium?

@Anna Max Just go and apply for AID Juridique / its free and they give consultation /

@Anna Max ,

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend a lawyer with that specific specialization, as it is quite a narrow field and often depends on the particular nationality. It's important that your lawyer is familiar with these nuances.

Therefore, I would suggest looking for a lawyer in a Facebook group where your fellow countrymen or people who speak the same language gather. Such groups are usually named "<Country_Name in Belgium>". In the group, you can either ask directly by creating a post or search within the group. Most likely, similar situations have already been discussed, and lawyers have been recommended.

And of course, I agree with the previous message. Initially, you can visit a free lawyer to get a general overview of your situation. However, such lawyers will not represent you in the Immigration Office.

@Anna Max yes.He find a job during 90 days period.