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[/b]As far as I can see you would need to live in Belgium, to get Belgian citizenship. Living in Austria won't do:Simthorn wrote:Hello every one! i have this question about acquiring Belgian Citizenship.
i am a non-EU national and i want to marry my partner who is originally Belgian but he has been living in Vienna for the last 10 years. we are planning to register our marriage in the Belgian consulate in Vienna and we will live together in Vienna.i just dont know as a non-EU national, how can i stay in Vienna with him. would i be able to apply for Belgian Citizenship after 3 years?Thank you
Do you mean you have ILR, or do you mean a visa? How long have you been here (and how did you come here - i.e. asylum, student, etc), and how long have you been on ILR? You can apply for British Citizenship after 12 months on ILR (well, generally, so if you provide us with some more about your immigration history we can let you know for sure), and as a British Citizen, you are of course an EU national and can move anywhere in the EEA without a visa.Simthorn wrote:My partner is still Belgian and he only resides in Austria. i am originally Iranian but i live in the UK with definite leave to remain permit. I can not enter the continent with my British permit and i know if i marry him i would enjoy freedom of movement in the EU to go and stay with him in Vienna. what i dont know is that i would be able to apply for Belgian citizenship after 3 years of our marriage despite the fact that we would live in Vienna? I have read that i should demonstrate that i have ties with Belgium if during this period of 3 years we have been living out of Belgium to apply for the citizenship but i dont know what does this really mean.
You should probably contact the Belgian authorities, as it is not clear on their websites what they mean by 'ties'.Simthorn wrote:I firstly came to the UK on student Visa and now i have a work permit Visa not ILR. the thing is that i dont want to stay in the UK to naturalise and i want to marry my partner who is a Belgian guy living in Vienna. I just want to know if i would be able to naturalise for Belgian citizenship after 3 years of our marriage and living together in Vienna? how can i demonstrate my ties with Belgium if i live outside Belgium with my Belgian partner?
So I doubt any of us will know what criteria they use. It might mean learning one of the official languages, regular visits to Belgium to meet in-laws/family, maybe at least a certain period of stay in Belgium. It is quite hard to tell.The application is then forwarded to the Chamber of Representatives which takes the final decision on whether or not to grant Belgian nationality. You obtain Belgian nationality on the date upon which the acte de naturalisation/akte van naturalisatie (naturalisation document) is published in the Moniteur Belge/Belgisch Staatsblad (Belgian Official Gazette). Further information is available from the Chamber of Representatives .
What criteria to I have to meet?
- you must be at least 18 years of age AND;
- you must have had your main place of residence in Belgium for at least three years preceding the application. This period is reduced to two years for political refugees and stateless persons. Residence abroad can be equated with residence in Belgium if you can prove that you had genuine ties with Belgium during the periods stipulated above. The Chamber of Representatives will issue a decision on the matter.
Not really! According to the Directive, the Residence permit issued by a Member State can be used in another Member State entry and for residence upto 3 months only.i.e- in this case, the Residence Permit by Belgium can be used to enter and stay in Austria for upto 3 months. After that you will have to apply for the Austrain Residence Permit.Simthorn wrote:i thought they might issue me Belgian residence permit and according to the Directive 2004/38/EC "freedom of movement in the EU" i would be able to live in Austria with that as well.
There is little doubt that Belgian citizenship is more "accessible" than Austrian citizenship. However, in general terms (there may be exceptions, of course) I think that one has to live in Belgium to become eligible to apply. I'm not sure that merely being married to a Belgian citizen would be sufficient. Obviously, it is worth while making enquiries of the Belgian authorities or of someone who is well versed, in a professional capacity, with Belgian nationality law. Do bear in mind that information given out over the phone by consulates and the like is often incomplete or inaccurate.Simthorn wrote:Oh this is getting so complicated. but surely if i have to get the Austrian residence permit then i wouldn't be able to apply for naturalisation in Belgium after 3 years of our marriage and i would need to live on the residence permit all the time in Austria which will make things more difficult (i would need alot of paperwork and time to apply for Visa's and clearance for example just for a weekend in London or the US). i would need 10 years of continuous residence in Austria to apply for naturalisation.I think we should think about moving to Belgium. but thank you all for your informative replys.
