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Declaration of Nationality Commune process time

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tempxtra

Hello,

I did a declaration of nationality at my local commune in Brussels last month, I sent my documents digitally by email. My commune confirmed they will process my file and when finished will contact me to come in person with my documents to sign and pay, then crown prosecutor has 4 months to make a decision.

I read on this forum that the commune has 1 month to process your file and send it to the prosecutor. It's already passed that time (5 weeks now). Is there any way to make sure this timeframe is respected?

Thank you

Aneesh

You will get a letter when the commune forwards the file to ministry. Do a follw up with them.

tempxtra

Thanks for your reply, Aneesh.

I did follow up with the commune after 1 month and they told me it's still in progress and they would contact me. That was over a week ago. I was wondering if they have a time limit to send it to the ministry? I read they have 1 month on the forum, but is that the "law"? Most people on here say it took 2 week, I'm wondering how long they can delay it.

Thank you

Guest12856

You did not sign the declaration at the commune yet?

tempxtra

No haven't signed yet, that is what I am waiting for. Commune told me to send my documents by email. Over 1 month ago, they confirm they have received my documents and my file is being treated. When it is finished, they will ask me to come to the commune with actual documents to sign the declaration and pay the fee. But they say I cannot come into sign until my file is "treated".

That was over 1 month ago and they keep repeat themselves when I follow up on status...

Aneesh

Well, there could be a backlog of files in commune (some communes are slow / overloaded).

Guest12856

If you haven't signed anything yet, there's no legal timing. The only thing you can do is wait.

hoangtrunghieu

tempxtra wrote:

No haven't signed yet, that is what I am waiting for. Commune told me to send my documents by email. Over 1 month ago, they confirm they have received my documents and my file is being treated. When it is finished, they will ask me to come to the commune with actual documents to sign the declaration and pay the fee. But they say I cannot come into sign until my file is "treated".

That was over 1 month ago and they keep repeat themselves when I follow up on status...


If you not yet signed the declaration, your file has not officially submitted.

I guess like in Antwerp, your commune just want to do a preliminary check whether your file is completed beforehand. If everything is ok, you will be invited to the commune to make a formal declaration and from that day, 4 month period can be counted down.

By the way, I don't think you can pay the fee in the commune. Should you need to pay the registration fee in advance and include the proof of payment in your real application package?

tempxtra

hoangtrunghieu wrote:

If you not yet signed the declaration, your file has not officially submitted.

I guess like in Antwerp, your commune just want to do a preliminary check whether your file is completed beforehand. If everything is ok, you will be invited to the commune to make a formal declaration and from that day, 4 month period can be counted down.

By the way, I don't think you can pay the fee in the commune. Should you need to pay the registration fee in advance and include the proof of payment in your real application package?


Thanks for all the replies. I did some more searching online, and found on adde.be the 30 days for the commune to verify my file is complete should start from when I submit the documents. If it is complete, I can show proof of fee payment and sign the declaration, then they have an additional 5 days to forward to the ministry which then have 4 months.

I've asked where to send the payment and if I can come sign and they said not until the file is verified complete (I'm very confident it is in order), so doesn't seem much I can do even though the 35 days has passed already. Just wait and hope they contact me again soon. Thanks again for the help.

hoangtrunghieu

tempxtra wrote:
hoangtrunghieu wrote:

If you not yet signed the declaration, your file has not officially submitted.

I guess like in Antwerp, your commune just want to do a preliminary check whether your file is completed beforehand. If everything is ok, you will be invited to the commune to make a formal declaration and from that day, 4 month period can be counted down.

By the way, I don't think you can pay the fee in the commune. Should you need to pay the registration fee in advance and include the proof of payment in your real application package?


Thanks for all the replies. I did some more searching online, and found on adde.be the 30 days for the commune to verify my file is complete should start from when I submit the documents. If it is complete, I can show proof of fee payment and sign the declaration, then they have an additional 5 days to forward to the ministry which then have 4 months.

I've asked where to send the payment and if I can come sign and they said not until the file is verified complete (I'm very confident it is in order), so doesn't seem much I can do even though the 35 days has passed already. Just wait and hope they contact me again soon. Thanks again for the help.


You may have misunderstood what said in the website.

As long as you don't sign formal declaration yet, there is no time constraint for the commune to verify your file.

And indeed, not much you can do at the moment. Good luck and waiting is happiness :)

Kdeepak

I believe once you pay the court fees you can give them the all the copy of checked documents in the same day you have sign all the documents and then wait for your decision.

In my case they just scanned the originals and give it to me only Birth certificate is deposited but will returned at the end of the process.

In my opinion you should go with your all documents and ask them to apply or sign the application.

didairforever

I was exactly in the same situation couple of months ago. They said also they have 1 month to complete and review  my files then i sign the declaration.  but  after 5 weeks no news from them so i called them and they said they have a bit of delay and they will contact me a week after but 2 weeks later it was nothing, i called them twice again  they kept saying just to be patient . 2 months later they don't  reply on my emails anymore. finally after 4 months of no news i went to the commune and the papers was literally ready already 😔😔😔 ,. so if i we're  you, go directly to the commune to follow up. Don't  do it over the phone or email.

tempxtra
Thanks again for the replies. I forgot to provide an update.

@hoangtrunghieu Indeed, it was a dilemma. They were not required to verify my dossier because I didn't sign the declaration and also refused to invite me to sign the declaration until they verified my dossier was complete...

After calling the commune explaining this is ridiculous, they agreed to verify my dossier while on the phone with me and then invited me to sign. The declaration I signed mentioned my dossier was verified complete and they said they would send it immediately to authorities to start the 4 months for the official decision. That was over a month ago, so hope to have good news in July.

As @Kdeepak and @didairforever mentioned, I recommend applying in person (not by email) and signing the declaration as soon as possible. It took the commune 2 months to verify my dossier because I applied by email. So in the end I lost 1 month but would have been longer if I didn't keep complaining. Not the end of the world but still annoying.

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