Frequently asked questions
Additional info for documents needed to travel
What do I need to send to prove my relationship is durable?
Any photos, conversations you feel like sharing, a call history suffices as well. No geolocalization is necessary for photos, though you can add locations and dates if you want. Calls and text messages on 1 platform is sufficient, you can always add more. Remember: employees at the embassy are humans too, they know people want to reunite.
What dates do I state?
I would suggest adding milestones like:
– The official starting date of your relationship
– The dates of the first, second, … visit
– Dates of gifts received with a photo (optional)
The main takeway is to convey you have been in a relationship for almost/more than 1 year.
Which flight to take?
Honestly there is no 100% certainty. From our experience (long distance relationship Belgium-Mexico) we would not recommend flying with TUI right now (even if it is the only direct itinerary). KLM and Aeroméxico seem most reliable to travel from Mexico to Belgium through The Netherlands. Though, again from our experience Aeroméxico was very unreasonable upon departure and did not communicate well with us for questions about departure.
Is an invitation letter required?
A self written invitation letter is not required for Belgium. Some other countries do require this document.
Financial documents - additional info
You either show through your bank statements that you can afford to sustain yourself (sufficient personal means of subsistence) in Belgium. In Belgium: €45 per day (€95 per day if you stay in a hotel).
OR the partner in Belgium fills in a 3bis document and gets a signature from your town hall (id required to validate the signature). It can also be a family member of the partner signing the 3bis document, as long as the document gets validated by someone with a stable income (3 last payslips).
The town hall does NOT have to send this document to DVZ (foreign affairs, takes 4 weeks or more) — the embassy only needs a signed (validated) document from the town hall. In our case, the town hall gave me no option and wanted to send it anyway. In that case: ask a copy with the signatures of you and the town hall. Dutch 3bis | French 3bis (Both in English as well)