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Non-EU citizen - Applying BE Nationality

arthuroj
Sep 11, 2019
5
Question

Dear all,

My situation: I'm a Colombian citizen, married since feb 2015 to a Belgian citizen, received my Orange card in Feb 2015 and started to work as from March 2015 and still have the same job, completed my integration curse in July 2015, received my F ID in august 2015 and speak good French and Dutch. (Also important to mentioned I studied 1 year of high school in Belgian and have my certificated).

For personal reason I would like to apply for the nationality asap, therefore here my questions:

a. Since I'll be 5 years in March 2020 of living in BE, married to BE and working in BE - can I apply for the nationality as from that moment?
b. Having my F card (Not F+) can I apply for the nationality at that point?
c. Can I ask for the F+ and the nationality at that point?
d. Any advise from someone that had the same kind of process/situation?

Thank you all

becasse

Ask your commune but actually gaining Belgian citizenship takes a surprisingly long time even once you are qualified.

Sep 14, 2019 21:52
J

a) Yes
b) Yes
c) Yes
d) No. Your commune is the best place to go, but not yet. Wait for the 5 years to be up. Do NOT let your F card go out of fate.

Sep 15, 2019 21:03
crisscross

a) Yes
b) Yes. Any card except for A card is ok for nationality application.
c) When you get nationality you will get an E card. You can't have both F+ and E. You actually don't need an F+ card.
d) Ask the city hall for the exact date from which onwards they started calculating the 5 years of stay. The orange card duration does not add towards the 5 year.

Sep 16, 2019 10:20
Denniss

a) Yes, though bear in mind that 5 years start from the date your F-card was issued, not the the date you requested it. And they will not accept your application any day ealier before that date. Ie: if the card was issued on 1 october, you can file nationality declaration starting wtih 2 october.

b) Yes, F is ok. I was in the same situaiton and did not need F+.

c) Yes. though these are two different processes that need potentially to be done in different departmetns of the commune.

d) Go to the organisation Objectief (www.allrights.be) - they give very good advise based on your personal situation. In my case it was very helpful and helped me to get citizenship without complications.

Sep 24, 2019 15:47
arthuroj

I just want to reply to my own questions since the process is closed and this page helped me and I hope it helps others. (This is my own personal case - someone else can have a different experience).

a. Since I'll be 5 years in March 2020 of living in BE, married to BE and working in BE - can I apply for the nationality as of that moment?
Response: No - the time started to count as from March 2015 but at that point I was not able to apply for the nationality.
 
b. Having my F card (Not F+) can I apply for the nationality at that point?
Response: No - In fact I needed to have a proof of an unlimited resident permit, the F card is just a permit for 5 years, therefore I needed to have in my hands the F+ card which allowed me to stay in Belgium longer (that's what I was told and did. this was also told by the people from http://www.allrights.be/)

c. Can I ask for the F+ and the nationality at that point?
Response: No I needed my F+ first and then I was able to apply by nationality.

- This being said. In March 2020 I was living 5 years in Belgium and I was still married and worked every day of those 5 years. In July 2020 I got my F+ card - nothing changed, still married and working at the same place for 5Y & 6 months. In October I was able to apply for the nationality (in Antwerp the application process is a bit longer cuz It needs to be done via  vreemdelingenzaken in Deurne) early Dec 2020 I got a policy control (very straight forward control) and in Jan 2021, I received a letter confirming I got the nationality. :D

Very str8 forward - Just checked my marital status, my working days (5y and 9 months at the same employer, my integration certificate, my police records and my address. That's all.

Hope this helps the next reader.

Jan 26, 2021 11:28