Family reunification within Belgium

E bayat · 2025-06-11T12:29:54+02:00

Discover the requirements for family reunification in Belgium for non-EU citizens and the process for applying while in the country.

E bayat New member

Member since 21 February 2025

E bayatNew member11 June 2025 10:29:54

Hello everyone,

I have a job position in Belgium as a highly skilled job. My wife and I are non-EU citizens. My wife has an Italian residence permit and Schengen Visa from Italy that will expire by the end of August.

My question is that whether my wife can come to Belgium and apply for family reunification within Belgium. Is it possible?

uygarts9 Member

Member since 08 October 2023

uygarts9Member12 June 2025 10:14:20

Hi,

Directly referring the IBZ website:

[Article 10 of the Law of 15 December 1980]

The application for family reunification can be submitted in Belgium in the following situations:

The person applying for family reunification is already authorised to stay in Belgium for a limited period of time (A or H card) and the conditions for family reunification are met.
The person applying for family reunification is exempt from the visa requirement for a short stay in the Schengen area and the conditions for family reunification are met.
The person applying for family reunification has received a visa to marry or cohabit legally in Belgium and they got married before the visa expired.
Exceptional circumstances prevent the person applying for family reunification from applying abroad (visa application).

What you must pay attention is that when showing your income they usually require `stable means of subsistence`, which they refer as 12 months of payslips shown in the application, so if you have been working for a shorter time, might be worth explaining your situation in your application and accept that they may reject due to this. Of course pay attention to all other details also, this is just from my experience a complicated one.