So my husband just got made redundant in London (typical life, right?) and since I'm a Belgian citizen we've decided to pack it all in and move back home. Moving a whole house across the channel is a nightmare and I'm pretty sure my toddler thinks we're just going on a very long holiday to eat more waffles. My husband is currently panicking because he's a Brit and he's heard things about all the paperwork needed since Brexit. Any advice for a family trying to navigate the Belgian bureaucracy without losing their minds? ๐
How do I move from the UK to Belgium?
Accepted answer
Honestly. Since Brexit, UK nationals are treated as non-EU nationals, so they need a visa or residence permit to live in Belgium for more than 90 days. You need to check if he needs a single permit if he's looking for work here. He can only stay 90 days for holidays. He'll need to apply for the right visa at the embassy in the UK well in advance. Once we got to our village in Wallonia, we had to register at the commune within 8 days of arriving. It was much easier for us because the Belgian authorities had already officially recognized our marriage back home, which helped with his residency card application. Make sure you have the criminal record certificate ready too.
Replies
Moving here was a huge challenge for us without a company to sponsor our visas - being non-EU made it much harder - we had to jump through so many hoops!