The Belgian cohabitation visa, your partner and you: a love triangle

While living together in a long-term relationship is already a feat for many, the act takes on new proportions for international couples wanting to build a life together in Belgium. That is because a third party must be welcomed into the love boat: the Belgian cohabitation visa.

This cohabitation visa gets you a residence permit to live in Belgium – given you meet certain conditions.

Perhaps trying to reflect the characteristics of an international relationship itself, the cohabitation visa process proves long, complicated and often unclear. The Bulletin is dedicated to being your cohabitation visa relationship counsellor as we guide you through each stage of this love triangle.

The Intimacy Stage: getting acquainted with the visa application

Each couple’s relationship with the cohabitation visa process will be different, as several factors – such as age, nationality, current location and the couple’s relationship – will alter how an individual will need to prepare an application. It’s therefore important to get well acquainted with the cohabitation visa process.

Given the number of yearly applications, it is surprising that so little information exists on the internet. The Belgian Government and Foreign Affairs Ministry both provide websites with in-depth information, but the administrative language is often heavy and difficult to get through.

Another option is to seek out personal expat accounts. For this, BelgiumCohabitationVisa.com leads the pack. Run by a Belgian cohabitant who has endured the “time consuming and tedious battle with Belgian immigration policy bureaucracy,” the website helps those currently trying to obtain a residence permit based on cohabitation.

It offers clear explanations of the requirements, process and needed documents – including if and how a document needs to be legalised. Finally, it provides a detailed timeline, as well as first-hand accounts of registering at the local commune, police visits and more.

The website is geared toward immigrants from the US, but applicants of different nationalities are sure to find its information useful. Another option for European applicants is the Europe-Brussels Liaison Office website.

Finally, if all else fails and questions remain, expat forums – like The Bulletin’s, for instance – can be useful.   

The Commitment Stage: it's cohabitation after all, not marriage

Hopefully by using the above information, you will succeed in obtaining your cohabitation visa. After a well-deserved celebration, take a post-honeymoon moment to learn about the particularities of the legal cohabitation contract.

AngloInfo gives good basic information on the contract, while Notaire.be goes even deeper into the discrepancies between a married and cohabitating couple (get that website translator ready). But for those looking for a quick summary: the most important difference is that, in a cohabitant situation, finances (bills, rent, debts, profits, incomes, real estate) are not shared, unless agreed upon in a separate contract.

The (feared) Break-up Stage: Unbelievably easy-peasy

It’s difficult to acknowledge, but the day may come that this triangular love relationship must end. What will this mean for the couple and the status of the cohabitant with an immigrant visa?

As the City of Brussels states, ending the legal cohabitation is quite simple. In most cases, the couple informs their local commune that their cohabitation has ended. Having no shared assets to split like in a marriage, cohabitant break-ups are not destined for years in divorce court.

Nonetheless, the cohabitation break up remains a double-edged sword; upon terminating of the relationship at the commune, the person having immigrated to Belgium risks seeing his or her visa revoked. That is, unless the person has lived for a significant amount of time under the visa (three years for EU, Swiss and EEA citizens and five for non-EU citizens), in which case the visa’s status changes from long to permanent.

But naturally there is still that Belgian legislative grey area.

Anne Sterpin, expert on visas based on joining registered partnerships (Belgian government’s name for a cohabitation visa) at the Belgian Immigration Office, elaborates: “Many factors influence the decision of whether or not we will retract someone’s visa. First, the cohabitation’s termination must be brought to our attention and responded to before the three-to-five year deadline. Otherwise, the person receives the automatic right to a permanent visa in Belgium.

“If the cohabitation break-up is brought to our attention before the three-to-five year mark, the file is then considered on a case-by-case basis. Often, if the person is considered well assimilated in Belgium – has a permanent job and no known infractions, for example – the chances are high that the visa will not be revoked.”

Some final words of relationship inspiration

Managing your cohabitation love triangle is at times stressful, but as the BelgiumCohabitationVisa website founder says: “It was worth every penny, frustration, hour, errand and visa application form that I had to endure. My compensation has been paid many times over through the personal growth, learning experiences, happiness and adventure that Brussels has afforded me.”

So try to keep a good sense of humour as you go through the process. For some inspiration, try reading this entertaining yet informative account: “The Belgian Jungle of a Visa”.

Photo by Flickr/violetz_85