Any Americans married to a Belgian? Looking for least complicated process.

I am American and got married in the US. Registered at the commune when we got back to brussels. Simple process. Once the police came to check that it was a real marriage, got my ID card pretty quickly.

I'm from the US as well, my hubby Belgian, married in Vermont. The process to move here and be registered in the commune was so easy, no problem at all.

When we explored the options, it was easiest to get married in the USA and as sparkles and Kel have said, you then come to Belgium, go to the commune to register, police come to check, and that's it.

The only hiccup we had was that prior to the marriage we went to the commune and we asked, what are all the documents we need, and the same thing you mentioned, but they never mentioned that the marriage certificate needed an apostille.

So when we came back to Belgium and we showed up at the commune, they told us we were missing the apostille on the marriage certificate.

Fortunately we were able to get it done via the web and a family member Fedexed it so not a major problem, but an inconvenience since we wasted the money on fedex, but overall, process went smoothly, except for the commune always giving us the wrong info on stuff. :)

I'm American and my husband is Belgian. We got married at our local town hall in Brussels. I have never registered our marriage in the U.S. as I have been living in Europe for 25+ years and have no intention of ever returning to the States.

I am American and got married in the US to a Belgian. We had to translate the documents, but that benefically in the long run when we had children and made wills. Best wishes.

First, congratulations on your upcoming marriage. If you choose to go to the US to get married, be careful on two points:

Visa: Study very carefully the K visa. If your fiancée goes to the US on visa waiver (and ESTA) with the intention of getting married to a US citizen (you) and CBP find out about it, there could be some issues. Ask an immigration lawyer or the embassy directly.

Apostille: If you get married in the US, you should get your apostille taken care of in the state of marriage before you come back. I was at the embassy this week and a poor couple waited in line for quite a while only to be told that apostilles (at least for marriage licenses) are a state matter and that the embassy won't do it. They left empty handed.

I am not sure who told you about validating your marriage in the US,but, I have never heard of that nor have I ever needed to do it.

I was married in Belgium to a Belgian national and the only things I needed from the States was my birth certs, prior divorce document (since I was married before), and that was it. All that came from the Bureau of Vital Stats in my home state and that was taken to the Dept of State to have the apostilles. In Belgium, an notaris was needed to translate them into the official language and in my case, Dutch. You do not need the Belgian nor the US embassies for any translations. In fact, none of them do so unless that has changed since I was married 5 years ago.
If you marry in Belgium, after you have your documents in order then you can go to city hall,do the application, pick your date and a banns is published( this may not be true in every town) for your intent to marry for 3 weeks. After which, you go to the city hall with two witnesses and you are married. Belgium does not recognize marriages in a Church,but, you can certainly do that afterwards. Frankly, it is very simple process here in Belgium compared to home. I was married in a small town so I imagine it was considerably easier than say Brussel.

As far as getting your marriage license translated in the US, I have NEVER needed to that in all the years myself and hubby travel back and forth to the States. And if you mean you need have the marriage license translated here if you are married in the States...never heard of that either as the EU and the States have agreements in that regard. The only reason I could see the need in that if the city hall in which town in you would reside in would require it.

The investigation that Belgium has in regards to marriages is very simple. All it is the police coming to visit to make sure everyone is legally registered in the city hall, verifying documents are in order and that's.. It's pretty painless. It is done every time you move within Belgium. Last time I moved didn't even need my marriage license.

As far as ID cards, you will receive one within months of your marriage if you are married here. I am not sure about if you are married aboard,but, regardless you will receive one that is good for 5 years which allows you to travel freely in the EU. However, I pack my passport everywhere especially in the airport.

No matter where you are married whether here or Stateside...it is valid. Period. As far as residing in the US, if you both have that plan, I have no information on that as we never have. I would check with Immigration. The Embassies can advise you on that,but, frankly I would go to Immigration directly.

Congrads on your upcoming marriage :)

Hello,
I am currently in America with my Belgian fiance. We return to Brussels in April. I am getting together my paperwork so we can go to the commune prepared. I have my birth certificate and a new passport.

When I previously went to the commune to gather the information for what papers I need to bring back the young man told me I needed proof of nationality (birth certificate and passport will do), proof I have never been married (I haven't. Where do I get that), proof of address in hometown (no idea where to get that!), and authorization of marriage/ affidavit. Do I get an affidavit here?

I have to get everything Authorized/notarized (is that the same this?) Where does one do this. Additionally it needs to be translated to French. Where do I get this professionally done. My fiance speaks french but we need it to be a officiated document.