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Short term visa for relative on a limited residence permit card

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rohitk2

Hi,

I am living in Belgium since 3.5 years. I have a limited residence permit card (has to be renewed every year) and work permit D. Me and my wife are both working in an engineering company. My sister-in-law wants to visit us in August and she applied for a short term visitor visa in India. We submitted sufficient proof of income and proof of residence permit here.

She received a letter today saying that they needed an original letter of guarantee from a sponsor by a guarantor residing permanently in Belgium or a Belgian nationality.

We had already requested this letter from our districthuis in Antwerp and submitted with the application.

The letter also goes on to say that 'a person with limited residence permit cannot legally act as a guarantor'.

So my question is, if you are here with this temporary residence permit card, can you not invite anybody from your family to visit you even if you have sufficient means??

Our residence permit will have to be renewed in Jan 2018 and she was going to visit for 2 weeks in August 2017.

solexhonda

Yes that is right.

If you have a residence permit A, you cannot legally act as a guarantor. That means you cannot get an Annex 3bis, which is the document for support.

So in this case, your SIL will have to show her own funds for the duration of stay here for the visa. I think it is approximately €40-45 per day if staying with family, You can only send an unofficial but personal letter of invite addressed to the BE embassy there and also your ID card scanned copy to add to the application.

rohitk2

Thanks solexhonda,

Although, in the letter she received, they specifically asked for a guarantor with an unlimited residence permit in Belgium. See point 3 (and it's remark) of  figure below.
http://imgur.com/t45nDo6

If she will be funding her stay then should I remove the part in the invitation letter which said that I will be responsible for her expenses during her stay here..

Damn, this redtape is difficult..

Thanks for your help. :)

aneesh

Indeed:

When someone visits, there are two types of visa that can be applied for:
1, Tourist
2, Family/Friends Visit (schengen short term)

Tourist visa is pretty straightforward. Nothing to do with you. Traveler applies like any other tourist (flights, hotel booking, financial means, insurance, itinerary, etc etc)

In family/friends visit, funding of the travel can be either by the traveler or by the host. If you mention in invitation letter and in the visa form that costs are taken care by the host, then the host (who is now also the guarantor or sponsor)  must give a formal obligation (3bis) in original to the visitor which the visitor attaches to visa application file.

If you are giving the visitor just a place to stay and if they are bearing the costs of the travel, this must clearly be indicated in the visa form and invite letter. In that case, there is no need for the host to give a formal obligation. Traveler provided documentary proof for sufficient financial means (bank a/c statement, credit card, travelers cheques, etc) with the visa application.

aneesh

Now in your cousin's case, if the applicant already mentioned in the visa form and you mentioned in the invite that you will be responsible for the costs during this travel, a 3bis is mandatory.

As you said, if you change now to "traveler will fund the travel", may be a letter stating this, a new invite letter, etc may be provided to the consulate. Not sure how this will go :(

rohitk2

Thanks aneeshks. Appreciate the response. :)

solexhonda

Now if the option to change the dynamics of the invite as mentioned by Aneesh above starts getting difficult (as the application is already lodged) then see if its possible to withdraw that old application and apply afresh with the new info.

Of course the first option would be simplest.

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