Visa procedures for family reunion

Family reunion procedures must be prepared well to run smoothly. If you become an employee of Ghent University with a single permit, the Belgian embassy might issue a family reunion visa immediately for your family if the visa request is started together with yours.

General information

The application for the visa for family reunion is always done in the Belgian embassy of the home country or the foreign country of valid stay.

For employees: The application for the family can only be started after the single permit is approved. The embassy has the right in most cases or country’s to decide immediately for the approval upon presentation of the required documents without sending the documents to Brussels for justification (this does not apply in case an European restriction is applicable for your home country). Only when the application for family reunion is done separately (this means later than 6 months after arrival in Belgium) from the employee, the visa procedures might take much longer as the file is checked by the authorities in Brussels before approval is provided.

For doctoral students with a scholarship: The application for the family can be started together with the student visa, but will only be handled after arrival of the student in Belgium and upon providing the missing required documents of legal stay and income in Belgium. The family reunion visa has to be sent to DVZ in Brussels for approval. The procedures will take around 9 months before approval is provided. The visa is issued by the embassy in the country of application.

Required documents

Following documents need to be prepared per application per family member, for family of an employee or a doctoral student. Additional information might be asked, but that depends on the personal situation and local embassy. Make sure to provide all documents and information that is available, as the Belgian authorities do not request additional information if something is missing; but make a fast negative decision. The more relevant information is added to the application, the better the chance to obtain the family reunion visa. Please therefore always check the local instructions and required information.

  • Application form to request the visa D – family reunion and passport photographs
  • Colored scan of the passport
  • Medical certificate
  • Official marriage certificate or proof of cohabitation
  • Birth certificates for the children
  • Extract of the criminal record for all family members older than 18 years old
  • The proof of payment of retribution costs
  • Proof of travel insurance

If the application is done separately from the employee or doctoral student who is already living in Belgium, the following documents need to be added

  • Proof of registration with the health insurance fund of the employee/student + acceptance of the health insurance fund of the family members
  • Colored scan of the valid Belgian residence permit of the employee
  • Copy of the contract or host agreement : proof of sufficient means to live in Belgium
  • Copy of the rental agreement in Belgium: the place must be big enough to live with your family (multiple rooms available)

For employees and single permit holders:

  • Copy of the single permit documents (annex 46) and a copy of the contract or host agreement : proof of sufficient means to live in Belgium

Doctoral students:

  • Proof of sufficient means to live in Belgium: the doctoral scholarship of UGent or other income sources.

Regarding the stable, regular and adequate means of subsistence we advise to check directly the instructions of the Federal authorities DVZ.

  • The sponsor must present documents covering a sufficiently long reference period, ideally the 12 months precedingthe submission of the residence application, and even longer if the sponsor is self-employed.
  • The means of existence must be at least equal to 110% of the guaranteed average minimum monthly income (GMMI amount), e. €2,323.079 net/month (2025).
  • This amount must be increased by 10%for each additional dependent family member of the foreign national being joined, regardless of whether this family member already legally resides in Belgium or is applying for family reunification.

The documents

It is strongly recommended to visit the website of the Belgian diplomatic or consular post or of the local administration, for any information regarding the acts validly establishing the family tie, as well as the form in which an act, judgement or document issued abroad must be presented. 

In general, acts drawn up abroad must be legalised or apostilled by the competent Belgian diplomatic or consular post before the visa application is submitted. The correct procedure can be found here.

If the documents are drawn up in a language other than German, English, French or Dutch, they must be translated by a sworn translator. The sworn translation made abroad must be legalised as a separate document in accordance to the procedure laid down in the country of origin, then by the competent Belgian diplomatic or consular post.

Procedure

The procedure is started online (make an account). An visa application form will be completed.
Next a meeting at the Visa Application Center must be organized to request the visa in person and hand over the documents.

On the day of the appointment, the applicant must submit the following documents:

  • the appointment confirmation;
  • the visa application form received by e-mail, completed, signed and printed out;
  • a personal travel document in which a visa can be affixed or, if the applicant is unable to present this document, another proof of identity (or several other proofs of identity) to which the competent Belgian diplomatic or consular post gives weight; (see Travel document)
  • proof of payment of the handling fee, unless exempted;
  • proof of payment of the fee, unless exempted;
  • documents proving that the conditions for family reunification have been met (listed above).

The VAC checks with the applicant the contents of his or her file and hands him or her a checklist indicating which documents were presented when the visa application was submitted and which documents, if any, were not presented. Applicants whose files are not complete may decide to submit their visa application later on. In this case, they will be given their file and will make a new appointment online once they have completed their file.

The applicant must also pay the handling fee and the service fee determined by the VAC.

The VAC will take a photo and fingerprints of the applicant. Everybody must arrive in person at the VAC or  Belgian embassy at least once to complete the biometric data check.

A ticket with the file number and information will be provided. If additional information must be added or the personal situation changes, an update can be provided by contacting gh.visa@ibz.fgov.be.

The VAC forwards the visa application and file to the Belgian embassy or consulate general for processing. The VAC is not involved in the processing and decision-making process.

Applications of family linked to doctoral students will be sent to DVZ in Brussels for further processing.

If the conditions for family reunification are met, the Immigration Office will instruct the diplomatic or consular post to issue the applicant a  D visa valid for 12 months. This decision is valid for 6 months.

Within 8 days of arrival in Belgium, the visa holder must report to the local authorities in the place where he or she is staying.

More information on the visa procedure and required documents can be found on the website of the Belgian embassy or on the Belgian home affairs website.

Useful links

If you need assistance with the application for family reunion or wish to appeal a negative decision, we recommend following lawyers and firms: