VisaPartners planning legal cohabitation in Belgium should choose the visa route before travelling
The partner’s nationality and the applicant’s circumstances determine the route. A municipal declaration and permission to remain involve separate procedures.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
The planned declaration does not complete the residence process
Belgium’s Immigration Office distinguishes non-EU applicants joining a Belgian or another non-EU resident from those joining an EU citizen. For the former group, its current instructions require a D visa for a planned declaration followed by family reunification. An EU-citizen partner can involve a different entry route under free-movement rules, depending on whether the applicant qualifies. This guide explains existing procedures rather than a new November announcement.
For the D-visa route described by the Immigration Office, approval permits a limited six-month stay. Register with the municipality within eight days of arrival, complete the declaration before the authorisation expires and apply for family reunification immediately afterwards. The temporary A card for the planned declaration is not renewable. Do not treat entry permission as an indefinite residence grant: completing the civil-status step and requesting the subsequent residence status both matter.
Taiwan residents should use the local long-stay checklist
The Belgian Office in Taipei’s checklist applies to non-EU applicants residing in Taiwan who intend marriage or legal cohabitation with a Belgian or authorised non-EU resident. It asks for one set of originals and two sets of copies, a printed signed Visa On Web application, photograph and evidence of the administrative payment. Foreign residents in Taiwan must include their ARC. Use that receiving office’s instructions rather than copying a different mission’s submission format.
The checklist also requests authenticated civil-status documents, a medical certificate, criminal-record evidence, insurance and a chronological relationship account. The partner in Belgium supplies identity or residence evidence, health-insurance affiliation, sufficient means and housing evidence, such as a registered rental contract or ownership. Taipei’s combined marriage/cohabitation checklist also mentions a marriage-registration declaration. Applicants intending only cohabitation should clarify that item’s applicability instead of inventing a marriage document. The office says the Immigration Office decides the case and results can take several months; that is not a guaranteed completion date.
Japan guidance treats an EU-citizen partner differently
Tokyo’s specific Schengen checklist concerns legal cohabitation with an EU citizen who is not Belgian. It expressly excludes Japanese citizens and other visa-exempt nationals from receiving a C visa for that purpose. Its explanation says visa-exempt travellers may begin the municipal declaration during a lawful short stay, while still meeting entry conditions and showing an intended visit of less than 90 days. Contact the municipality before departure about the civil-status documents it requires.
For applicants who do need that C visa, Tokyo requires Visa On Web and an appointment, original documents with copies, and a Japanese residence card valid for at least six further months at submission. The mission recommends applying at least three weeks before departure; this recommendation is not an approval guarantee. Its fee paragraph lists nationality exemptions and says electronic payments replaced cash from March 2025. Check the linked local price schedule for the applicable amount. The page’s Japanese-national fee exemption does not override its explicit statement that Japanese citizens cannot receive this C visa.
Prepare evidence for the registrar as well as the visa office
The Flemish government’s civil-status guidance explains that legal cohabitation is declared jointly before the municipal registrar. It is available beyond romantic couples, including relatives, provided the individuals have contractual capacity, are unmarried and do not already legally cohabit with someone else. This civil-law breadth should not be taken as evidence that every cohabitant qualifies for a partner immigration route.
The declaration records both people’s identity details, signatures, joint domicile and wish to cohabit legally. Bring both identity cards. If the registrar cannot verify marital status through the National Register, the guidance requires supporting evidence no more than six months old: an unmarried-status certificate, divorce extract or deceased spouse’s death-certificate extract, as applicable. For example, a person whose divorce is not recorded locally should establish which extract the registrar accepts before ordering translations. A visa document bundle and a municipal civil-status check can therefore require separate preparation.
Registration abroad belongs to the relevant local authority
Belgium’s foreign ministry explains that a Belgian consulate cannot register a cohabiting relationship abroad. Applicants wishing to establish one outside Belgium must approach the relevant authority in that country. The governing law generally comes from the country where the relationship was first registered, including its effects on the partners and their property. An overseas partnership should therefore be identified accurately in an application rather than described as a Belgian municipal declaration.
The ministry also warns that cohabitation or a registered partnership does not itself establish parentage regarding a Belgian father under Belgian law; acknowledgement can remain necessary. Families travelling with a child should treat proof of parentage as its own issue. These registry instructions do not decide a visa application or replace its sponsor conditions. Resolve the receiving mission, applicable route and required civil documents together before making travel arrangements; no uniform worldwide filing fee or universally guaranteed processing time is established by the pages compared here.
