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Solicitor / lawyer needed for citizenship claim

Question

Can anyone recommend a lawyer / solicitor to put a case forward for Belgian citizenship (our situation is a little complex ... particularly because of having had ‘special’ EU ID cards for many years)?

We live in the area covered by Leuven’s jurisdiction so the work would need to be done in Flemish.

crisscross

Fragomen in Brussels.

Aug 7, 2018 16:51
shortof

It might help to start by referring to the language as Dutch.

Aug 7, 2018 17:56
kasseistamper

@SHORTOF
It seems that Wiki doesn't agree with you.
'Flemish (Vlaams), also called Flemish Dutch (Vlaams-Nederlands), Belgian Dutch (Belgisch-Nederlands) or Southern Dutch (Zuid-Nederlands), is any of the varieties of the Dutch language dialects spoken in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium.'
Nor do Mr Webster of US dictionary fame or any decent English dictionary.

Aug 7, 2018 20:21
kasseistamper

I should have added that the received wisdom from answers to many similar questions over the years is that you only take professional advice after you have applied by yourself and been refused.
If you pay someone to do what you can do for yourself, you simply waste money.
My experience at my Flemish gemeentehuis was that the staff were extremely helpful and explained all the options available to me.

Aug 8, 2018 09:59
BBCATim

Hello. Have you approached the Brussels Commissioners office? Very useful advice and representation may be possible especially if case law on validity of special id cards is required. http://www.commissioner.brussels/

Aug 8, 2018 11:59
abc123

We were talking to our commune about this, and they said they are expecting a change in the regulations in January to take account of new case law around the status of the special id card.

So they advised waiting until after that if you wish to apply for Belgian nationality.

Aug 8, 2018 14:42
shortof

I would refer to the language as it is called by Flemish organizations, by Flemish schools, by the Flemish Community, by Flemish language schools.

Aug 9, 2018 10:54
SD

Kasseistamper, you usually make good points, but in this case Shortof is actually completely right. You will never see the term 'Flemish' used to refer to the language on any sort of document. Colloquially, it is sometimes used, occasionally by Flemings themselves, but even then it is frowned upon.

With good reason, because it makes no linguistic or historical sense. It is the equivalent of saying you speak American - you would not do that, even though it has a number of specific words and expressions, and a divergent pronunciation.

It is even less advisable in this case since 'Flemish' in the proper sense already refers to the dialect traditionally spoken in the province of West Flanders and parts of western East Flanders. The other major Dutch dialect groups are Brabantian and Limburgish. The vast majority of expats, by the by, live in the historically Brabantian area (Antwerp, Brussels, Leuven, etc).

Aug 12, 2018 12:35
SD

I meant to specify 'major Dutch dialect groups in Flanders' in my previous post.

Of course it's not a big deal and few people will be offended, but since it was brought up...

Aug 12, 2018 12:41