Minor Child of a Third-Country Resident or Partner

their joint minor children;

the minor children of the foreign national being joined, or of his or her spouse or partner;

This page provides information on the general conditions for family reunification with a third country national admitted or authorized to stay in Belgium for a limited or unlimited period., and on the documents to be presented by the foreign national's family members who wish to accompany or join him or her in Belgium to live as a family.

Third country national means any foreign national who is not a national of any of the Member States of the European Union or the Schengen area, nor of a country associated with the European Union (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland).

Certain family members of a third-country national legally residing in Belgium may benefit from special conditions due to the situation of the sponsor in Belgium.

a foreign national to whom Belgium has granted international protection (refugee status or temporary protection)

a foreign national authorised to reside in Belgium for medical reasons (article 9ter of the Law)

a foreign national who has obtained long-term resident status in another European Union State.

The applicant must prove descent from the sponsor, spouse or partner.

→ Submit a birth certificate, or any document that validly proves the fact that they are descended from the sponsor, their spouse or their partner.

Useful information: If the applicant cannot produce a deed that validly proves lineage, the Immigration Office will generally refuse the visa application, subject to a DNA test. If the other conditions for family reunification are met, the visa may be issued based on the positive result of this test.

The applicant must be less than 18 years old.

→ Submit proof of unmarried status if the applicant is old enough to validly enter into a marriage.

If the applicant's parents are divorced, the sponsor, spouse or partner must have custody rights. If custody is shared, the other holder of custody must consent to family reunification.

→ Submit proof that the sponsor, spouse or partner has custody rights and, if custody is shared, that the other holder of custody has given their consent

The sponsor must have stable, regular and sufficient means of subsistence to meet their own needs and those of their family members and to avoid becoming a burden on the public authorities.

The sponsor must have health insurance that covers the risks in Belgium for themselves and their family members.

The sponsor must have adequate housing to accommodate the family member(s) who have asked to join them, and which meets the conditions imposed upon real estate leased as a principal residence, as stipulated in Article 2 of Book III, Title VIII, Chapter II, Section 2 of the Civil Code.

Special provision: The sponsor with a B, C, D, F, F+, H K , L, M or M+ card (unlimited stay) does not have to prove means of subsistence if the applicant is his/her child or the child of his/her spouse (or assimilated partner), and if this child is unmarried, comes to live with him/her before reaching 18 years of age and is the only one coming to join the sponsor (i.e. the other parent does not apply for family reunification at the same time).

[Article 10 or 10bis of the Act of 15 December 1980]

The right to family reunification must be recognised if the aforementioned family members prove with documents that the conditions for family reunification have been met.

If the applicant cannot produce a deed that validly proves lineage, the Immigration Office will generally refuse the visa application, subject to a DNA test.

The applicant must provide a medical certificate proving that they are not affected by any of the diseases listed in the annex to the Act of 15 December 1980, which may pose a danger to public health.

The applicant must come to live with the sponsor.