Author
The normal procedure requires the applicant to apply for family reunification at the Belgian embassy or consulate in the country where the applicant resides. In practice, family members of recognised refugees and subsidiary protection beneficiaries can alternatively submit the application form to another Belgian embassy which is authorised to apply for long-term visa applications; the alternative Belgian embassy can be appointed by the department of Foreign Affairs.[1] At the Belgian embassy, they have to apply for a D visa for family reunification and provide certain documents to complete the file.
In the Afrin judgement from 18 April 2023[2], the CJEU compelled Belgian authorities to provide alternative methods of submitting applications for family reunification in case of the impossibility of going to a Belgian diplomatic post to submit the visa application. Following this judgment, applications for family reunification visa can exceptionally be introduced remotely (by e-mail), if it is proven that it is impossible or very difficult for family members to render themselves to the competent diplomatic post. The law has not yet enshrined this possibility, but it is applied in practice and the Immigration Office has added information on this possibility on its website.[3] Applications to follow this exceptional procedure need to be well-motivated in a writing to the diplomatic post, which decides on the applications on a case-by-case-basis. Physical appearance thus remains the rule and application of Afrin the exception; in 2024 11% of the applications for family reunification could be examined without physical appearance, in the first 4 months of 2025 this was 13%.[4]
A note published by Myria on the occasion of the 1-year application of this new measure contains information on the practice, relevant case-law and recommendations.
Although Myria considers the new practice as an improvement, allowing for family reunification for certain families for who it used to be practically impossible, it identifies several points of attention, such as the lack of legal framework for this kind of applications and the fact that the family members should still, at one point in the procedure, go to the diplomatic post in-person.[5] Myria also recommends that this remote method of application should become the rule rather than the exception, in order to ensure effective access to the procedure[6] (see Family reunification – Criteria and conditions).
In November 2025 the Ombudsman has issued an advice to the Parliament, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Immigration Office. While it equally considers the possibility of an application without physical appearance as a step forward, it points out some recurring issues:
- The quality of the motivation when a diplomatic post does not accept the application without physical appearance and the uncertainty on the legal remedies;
- The limited scope of situations in which Afrin is applied;
- The unavailability/ impossibility to gain access to diplomatic posts[7]
The Department of Foreign Affairs points out that Afrin procedures bring an additional administrative burden: there is a project in the making by which part of these applications would be treated in Brussels to support diplomatic posts abroad.[8]
All applicants require a valid travel document (national passport or equivalent), a visa application form (including proof of payment of the handling fee of € 218),[9] a birth certificate, a copy of the beneficiary’s residence permit in Belgium, a copy of the decision granting protection status, a medical certificate no more than 6 months old and an extract from the criminal record.
In addition to these standard documents, a spouse will have to provide a marriage certificate. A registered partner has to provide a certificate of registered partnership and addition proof of the lasting relationship, such as photos, emails, travel tickets, etc. For minor children applying to reunify with a parent a copy of the judgment granting sole custody will have to be provided. If custody is shared, consent of the one parent that the child can join the other parent in Belgium is required. Where the child is only of the spouse/partner a marriage certificate, divorce certificate or registered partnership contract is required.
Children over 18 with a disability have to provide a medical certificate.
All foreign documents have to be legalised by both the foreign authorities that issued them and the Belgian authorities. Documents provided in another language than German, French, Dutch or English will have to be translated by a sworn translator.
After submitting all the certified and translated documents, the file is complete, and the applicant will receive proof of submission of the application (a so-called ‘Annex 15quinquies’). The file then gets sent to the Immigration Office for examination. When the proof of submission is delivered, a 9-month period starts during which the Immigration Office must take a decision on the visa application. This period can be prolonged with a 3-month extension twice in the event of a complex case or when additional inquiries are necessary.
If the Immigration Office decides that all conditions are fulfilled it will issue a positive decision and the family member will receive a D type visa mentioning ‘family reunification’. This visa is valid for maximum 1 year and allows the applicant to travel to Belgium via other Schengen countries or stay in another Schengen country for a maximum total duration of 3 months within a period of 6 months.
In some instances, the application can also be done at the municipality in Belgium[10], this is the case:
- for accompanying family members;
- if the person applying for family reunification is in legal short or long stay (being in procedure for a residence permit does not count as legal stay)
- if he person can provide proof of exceptional circumstances as to why it is not possible to apply at the competent Belgian embassy abroad.
Status and rights of family members
After arrival in Belgium, the applicant has to register in the municipality of their residence within 8 days.[11] The applicant has to show the family reunification visa and will receive an Annex 15 temporarily covering stay in Belgium until a residence control. After a positive residence control, the municipality will register the applicant in the Aliens Register and issue an electronic A-card valid for 1 year.
During the first 5 years, the A-card will be renewed if the conditions for family reunification are still satisfied.[12] The person will have to request a new card every year between the 45th and 30th day before the expiry date of the residence permit.
The Immigration Office can review the situation every time an electronic A-card has to be renewed, but also at any moment when the Immigration Office has well-founded suspicions of fraud or a marriage of convenience. If after a review the Immigration Office concludes the conditions are not fulfilled anymore, it can end the right to residence. This is only possible in one of the following situations:
- An applicant no longer fulfils the conditions for family reunification;
- The partners do not have an actual marital life anymore;
- One of the partners has concluded a marriage or registered equalled partnership with another person;
- One of the partners commits fraud;
- There is a marriage of convenience.
The Immigration Office then issues an Annex 14ter to leave the territory. However, before ending the right to residence, the Immigration Office has to take the duration of residence in Belgium, the existence of family, cultural and social ties in the country of origin and the solidity of the family bond into account.
If an applicant no longer lives with the person on which family reunification was based due to domestic violence the Immigration Office cannot end the right to residence. Rape, deliberate assault and battery and attempts to poison all fall under this exception as well.[13] Proof of domestic violence suffices, a conviction is not required. Psychological violence also suffices, but the Immigration Office requires more proof for this type of violence.
Since 1 September 2024, it has been implemented in law that the condition ‘living together’ to prove family life is no longer applicable in the case where the minor (sponsor) turned 18 during the procedure for international protection, or shortly after (3 months). Regular contacts that show personal and affective ties however, are still required. It is not clear how this can be proven. It should also be noted that this does not apply to minors joining their parents through family reunification.[14] Already the condition of having to live together has been subject to criticism as the family reunification directive does not require that families live together in order to have a family life.[15]
An applicant can lodge a suspensive annulation appeal with the CALL against the revocation of the right to residence by the Immigration Office within 30 days. The municipality will then issue an Annex 35. This is a temporary right to residence that is monthly extended for the duration of the appeal. In the absence of an appeal, the applicant’s residence in Belgium is unlawful.
If the person still fulfils the conditions for family reunification after 5 years, the right to residence becomes unlimited in duration. The person concerned has to apply for an electronic B card at the municipality during the duration of his electronic A card. If the applicant still fulfils the conditions, they receive a definitive, unconditional and unlimited right to residence. The municipality will issue an electronic B card valid for 5 years.
If the applicant does not satisfy the conditions anymore, a new right to residence of limited duration will be issued if the person concerned has sufficient means of existence not to become a burden to the State, has health insurance and poses no threat to public order or security.
Exceptionally the Immigration Office can end the right to residence in the event of fraud or a marriage of convenience.
This procedure is slightly different for parents of an unaccompanied child. Article 13 of the Aliens Act contains the modalities for obtaining an unlimited right to residence after 5 years. Added to the usual condition of continuously satisfying the conditions for family reunification, the applicant will also have to prove that they have stable and sufficient resources. Resources are considered sufficient when they are 120% of the living wage of the category ‘person with a dependent family’.[16] Currently this amounts to € 2.173,88 per month (note that this is different from the amount required under the material conditions for the family reunification application). The Constitutional Court ruled that as soon as that threshold is reached, the Immigration Office is not allowed to further investigate the exact amount of resources.[17] The resources also have to be stable, meaning interim jobs, trial work and temporary jobs are often refused. Even if the applicant is unable to prove stable and sufficient resources, the Immigration Office is not allowed to automatically refuse the unlimited right to residence but is required to first make an analysis of the needs of the family.[18] Based on said analysis, the Immigration Office can adjust the threshold. If after 5 years the applicant does not have stable and sufficient resources, they can ask that the limited duration (the electronic A card) is extended, but only for as long as the child is a minor. When the child becomes of age, the Immigration Office will investigate the personal situation of the applicant and may still prolong the duration of the right to residence.[19] However, the practice of ending the residence of a parent of a beneficiary of international protection that has become of age seems to be contrary to the rulings of the CJEU of 1 August 2022 (joint cases C-273/20 & C-355/20 and C-279/20).
[1] DVZ, ‘Visa D Application (family reunification) where do I apply for my visa?’ (consulted 25 March 2026), available in English here.
[2] CJEU, 18 April 2023, Afrin, C-1/23. Available in French at: https://tinyurl.com/2u8mxeuw.
[3] Immigration Office, ‘Visa D application (Family reunification)’, available in English here (last consulted on 3 April 2025).
[4] Federale Ombudsman, ‘recommendations regarding the requirement to appear in person when applying for a visa’, November 2025, p. 6, available in French and Dutch here.
[5] Myria, ‘Note: One year Afrin in Belgian practice’, 26 October 2024, available in Dutch here and in French here.
[6] Myria, ‘Family reunification, still many obstacles’, 13 September 2024, available in Dutch here and in French here.
[7] Federale ombudsman, ‘recommendations regarding the requirement to appear in person when applying for a visa’, November 2025, p. 8, available in French and Dutch here.
[8] Ibid, p. 7
[9] See: https://dofi.ibz.be/en/themes/faq/visa-fees.
[10] Article 12bis §1 1°- 4° Aliens Act.
[11] Circular of 21 June 2007 ‘on amendments to the rules regarding residence by foreigners after the entry into force of the Law of 15 September 2006’, Belgian Official Gazette, 4 July 2007.
[12] Article 13(3) Aliens Act.
[13] Articles 375, 398-400, 402, 403 and 405 Penal Code.
[14] Article 10 §1 4° Aliens Act. This law change followed the CJEU rulings of 1 August 2022 (joint cases C-273/20 & C-355/20 and C-279/20).
[15] The incompatibility with European law has been pointed out repeatedly by the Agentschap voor Integratie en inburgering on its webpages on family reunification, see for example: ‘diverse changes family reunification’, 8 august 2024, available in Dutch here.
[16] Article 10(5) Aliens Act.
[17] Constitutional Court, Decision No 121/2013, 26 September 2013.
[18] Article 12-bis(2) Aliens Act.
[19] Circular of 13 December 2013 on the application of the Articles of the Aliens Act. These were interpreted by the Constitutional Court in Decision No 121/2013 of 26 September 2013.