Marriage to a Belgian Citizen - I'm so confused!

[mistje]

Hi! For over two years I have been madly in love with a Belgian citizen. I am a US citizen. We have been flying back and forth and would like to end the traveling and get married and be together for good. I have been to several immigration sites and I am confused! I have gone to one site that told me I don't need a visa and then I read elsewhere that I need to fill out one. Would I be sent back to the states if I fly over there with just my passport and we get married within 90 days? I have emailed the Belgian Consulate in Washington but no response yet. I want to be able to move by end of this year and therefore want to get started asap on everything I need. Any help in the right direction, or advice, suggestions, or similar stories would be greatly appreciated

Thanks everyone!

[mistje]

I got my answer so I thought I would post it in case there were others with similar questions. (I noticed there were several views to this posting but no replies so maybe it's not just me who was confused). Anyways, here's the email I received from the Belgian Consulate office in Washington DC.

There is no visa for American citizens to go to Belgium to get married.

You need to get married before the period of 90 days is over.

Please ask your Belgian fiancé to contact the commune in which you want to get married so they can let him know which documents are needed for you to get married in Belgium. You will need to take care of these while you are still in the US.

As soon as you are married in Belgium, you will be able to apply for a residence permit.

[mistje]

Well my experience has been frustrating but successful in the end. Several of the documents I was told I needed to get while in the states, I was unable to get because they didn't exist. However, the Belgian Embassy in Brussels helped me with everything! Once I got here, they provided me with the rest of my documentation and then told me where to go to get the papers legalized. We have registered the wedding and all my papers were accepted and we are getting married on March 8th! We were also originally told that we would have to wait two months before getting married but then found out that because I didn't need a VISA to come to Belgium to "visit" then the waiting period was waived. So all in all, the advice I would give to anyone looking to make the move from the states to Belgium to get married, I would say don't give up but always be persistant in finding information and don't be afraid to get the local commune and the embassy to help you out.

[mym]

Thanks for the update, good luck for the future!

[peanutplans]

Hi Mistje:
THANKS SO MUCH for updating the forum on your progress. Congrats! I am writing to you in hopes that you have a suggestion for me.
I am an american citizen in love with a belgian and we were originally told that in order to apply for a cohabitation visa i have to first be in belgium so they can see that we live together. Then i found out that USA has its own rules so we put together the hugest stack of documents, forms, certificates, etc and filed with the Belgian embassy in Los angeles. Four weeks ago, we got an application number so we can follow its progress on the internet. But now i am already past my 3 months stay here in belgium - basically an illegal alien. It seems ok to go back and forth through customs since i just recently made the trip back to USA for a week. BUT the local authorities know i'm overstaying my visit since when i first arrived here 4 months ago, i did what i thought was correct and registered my stay with them.
We are now considering either flying back to USA to get married and try entering belgium as a married couple OR trying to get married here locally. Any help you can offer? Thanks so much! I have tried to go to the embassies, etc but to no avail.
Best,
Peanut