Question about Thai partner to the Netherlands: Via the Belgium route or Germany route?
Dear editors,
I have been talking to my Thai girlfriend from Bangkok for some time now. This year I want to go on holiday with her for a period of 3 to 4 weeks. After my stay I want to take her to the Netherlands for a maximum period of 90 days. During this period I want to get her to the Netherlands via the Belgium route or Germany route.
I would like to know the differences between both routes both in advantages and disadvantages.
I would like to know the following about both routes:
– Income requirement follow the latest known guidelines?
– Getting married prematurely in Thailand does this make the procedure easier/faster?
– Does continuing to work in the Netherlands have any advantages or disadvantages?
– Can I keep my health insurance in both routes?
– Are surcharges, allowances and/or sponsorship included?
– Are there requirements for the living space and is living in also allowed?
– Is it better to first look for accommodation and get her to the Netherlands via one of the routes or can this be done during her holiday in the Netherlands. What is easiest/suitable?
I may have forgotten some important aspects. So all advice and advice is welcome.
Regards,
John
Dear John,
My knowledge of the EU route is limited, if you choose to bring your partner to Europe via Germany or Belgium, I advise you to look at the forum of the Foreign Partner Foundation (SBP). There are various forums sections that not only apply for regular visas and deal with the TEV procedure, but also have a lot of knowledge and experience about the Belgium route and the Germany route. See here: foreignpartner.nl/Europa-route
Broadly speaking, the BE and D route are the same, because they are based on Directive 2004/38 on the free movement of EU citizens and their non-EU family members. The routes differ in details, but I know very little about them. Basically, it means that your immediate family has the right to be with you in Europe, provided you do not impose an unreasonable burden on the state. You can find this guideline here: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/
– Income requirement
If you have your own income with which you can get by independently, that should suffice. It does make a difference whether you have a job in Belgium/Germany or work in the Netherlands. In the latter case you are 'Economically inactive'. In that case, the procedures are slightly different, but the golden rule remains that you simply have to earn enough to make ends meet. I don't know exactly what the income requirement is, but you can find it on the SBP forum.
– Getting married prematurely
It does not matter where you get married, you can get married in Thailand, in the Netherlands or elsewhere (for example Denmark). For most EU countries they require that the EU citizen (you) be married to the non-EU citizen (your partner). Of course, that must be a legal and sincere marriage. A marriage of convenience is fraud and of course it needs no explanation that there are consequences. Marriage is not a strict requirement for Belgium, but count on it being much more hassle than being married.
The Belgian or German authorities will therefore want to see that this is a real marriage. So they will ask for a marriage certificate. If that deed comes from Thailand, that deed will also have to be legalized and translated. Some Member States require that the marriage is also known or recognized by the country of origin of the EU citizen, but that is not strictly speaking a requirement according to the Directive. However, registering a foreign marriage with the Landelijke Taken department in The Hague can certainly do no harm. If you opt for a wedding in the Netherlands, this is also possible if your girlfriend is on holiday in the Netherlands, provided you arrange this well in advance with your municipality, then you will of course not have any hassle with translations, legalizations or National Tasks. A copy from the Netherlands would then it should suffice to prove the marriage.
– Continue to work in the Netherlands
The most important thing is that you have a sufficient income. If you can find a job in Belgium or Germany, it certainly makes it easier if only because you can then more convincingly demonstrate that the 'center of your interests' was no longer in the Netherlands. If you return to the Netherlands, which is officially possible after 3 months, but the IND requires at least 6, the IND will want to see that you actually lived and were active outside the Netherlands. The fewer ties with the Netherlands the better, and the longer you stay away from the Netherlands the better. It is also better that you deregister from the Netherlands.
– Maintain health insurance
As said, the fewer tires the better. It is best to deregister from the Netherlands, then the Dutch health insurance will also expire and you can insure yourself in the new country of residence. You can say goodbye to the fact that the IND will become suspicious if you do not deregister and also keep your health insurance.
- Surcharges
All your income counts, including allowances or other forms of benefits or sponsorship.
– Housing requirements
Officially not, although the requirements may of course set regular requirements regarding a safe and therefore habitable home. In practice, many Belgian municipalities/police want to see that the house is sufficiently large. With his two in a cage of 4 by 4, he will not be, but a normal apartment should not cause any problems. For details I refer to topics on the SBP forum, in particular the 'permanent topics' at the top of the forum sections of the Belgium and Germany route.
– Looking for accommodation first?
Good preparation is half the battle, which applies to the regular Dutch migration route (TEV procedure), but especially to the EU route. The authorities see this as a shortcut (which they have created themselves: the EU requirements used to be stricter than the national requirements, but since the national requirements are stricter and the EU requirements are not, the EU route has emerged). So carefully plan all your steps from start to finish and therefore also the living space. If you don't want to worry, just try to go through the TEV procedure. If that is not possible or you simply prefer the EU route, take the EU route.
If I were you I would first read up on the EU route, so be sure to familiarize yourself with Directive 2004/38 and read up on the forum of SBP.
You can also find a lot of information and resources on the following homepage: belgie-route.startpagina.nl/
The regular procedure already takes a few hours to prepare (be sure to read my file here on this blog, see 'immigration Thai partner' in the menu on the left), but the above references will keep you busy for a few evenings. I hope to have given you a push in the right direction, but you will have to find out for yourself how this all works.
Good luck,
Rob
Bit of a strange story, can't judge your personal situation, but if you just have enough income and a permanent place of residence, you can just get her directly to the Netherlands, otherwise just look at the IND site and click on the customer guide and the questionnaire, it's very easy, good luck
if it all has to be done through back gate constructions, don't start it. I suspect that your situation is not sufficient to sort it out through the normal direct channel,
the test for income, home, background is there to protect you, not to bully you.
I don't fully understand it, “get to the Netherlands for a maximum of 90 days”, then your girlfriend can just apply for a visa instead of such a route? These routes are used to get a foreign partner to bypass the integration process in my opinion. And getting married in Thailand and translating and legalizing all papers before and after and registering in NL, well good luck, but probably not going to work in such a short time (4 weeks)…..
Just like Henry says, this is indeed a bit of a strange story. You yourself say: "After my stay, I want to take her to the Netherlands for a maximum period of 90 days". In this case, I would simply apply for a Schengen visa - this has you also need a minimum stay of up to 90 days - then your girlfriend can also possibly enter Belgium or Germany. Judging by your question, I would almost say, why should I make it easy if it can be difficult. For a stay of up to 90 days, only your question about income requirements makes sense.
I know from experience that entering Schiphol can sometimes be difficult. However, my girlfriend has never been refused passage.
Succes
Just a comment about Cees's response regarding a short time frame. If you have all the papers in order, it is often possible to obtain a visa within 2 weeks. I had to deal with this several times and in all cases my girlfriend had a visa within 8 a Even 10 days. Even since the visas are issued in Kuala Lumpur. Including making the appointment for the visa, you generally have a term shorter than 3 weeks.
That is correct Harry, regarding a visa, we have already succeeded several times within 2,5 weeks, but there is also something about premature marriage, hence, and certainly legalization in NL takes at least a month.
I agree with the previous 5 comments.
If you have sufficient income in the Netherlands.
If you have living space (bed, table 2 chairs) it is no problem.
Demonstrating that your girlfriend has obligations (job, family, children, education) which guarantees that she will return should not be a problem.
If you do not meet the requirements, a third person (parents, brother, sister) can also act as guarantor. After all, it's just for vacation.
If you still live with your parents, they must also be guarantors with the application.
Apply in the Netherlands and via the embassy.
Informing the IND in advance and having a case number created also helps.
Visit an IND support center. The head office is in 's-Hertogenbosch, I know the support center in Eindhoven, but there are more. Get in there for information and also submit the request via the person you had a conversation with.
For the Germany route, the person in Thaialnd must learn German at the Goethe Institute. For Belgian law, about the same applies as for Dutch law, only French or German is also allowed as a language.
If you still want to do something via Belgium and or Germany. Look for a job there through an employment agency or an intermediary and then also live there. Only the legal arrangements with the Netherlands are not as great as people would like everyone to believe.
Oh I live in the Netherlands, work for a French secondment agency for a Belgian company in Germany. Hmm, I thought it couldn't get more international.
Oh I have been married to a filipino, a chinese and now a thai since about 6 years.
If someone does the EU route then there are hardly any requirements, in fact the only requirement for the EU national and the non-EU national is that you are not an unreasonable burden to the state (so you have sufficient income yourself) and that you are not a threat to the state. No language requirements or other form of integration obligation can be imposed. So no language requirements before or after immigration.
The EU route can be abused ('misused'): 'migrating' to another EU country for as short a time as possible in order to circumvent its own migration rules. Some people cannot meet the requirements (which does not immediately mean that they will be a burden to society, if your income is only one euro too low, for example, you will already be excluded from the regular TEV procedure) and are forced to to do the EU route. But the EU route is of course also just fine for, for example, Dutch people who live in Thailand and want to return to Europe without a specific preference for the Netherlands. Moving to another EU country with your Thai partner and then not having all kinds of obligations such as a certain income or an integration requirement is nice.
It remains that if someone works in the Netherlands, and if the Dutchman and Thai are both 21+ and the Dutchman has a sustainable and sufficient income (100% WML, this wage is available for at least 365 whole days from the moment of application or the past 3 have met the 100% WML requirement for years), that the TEV route should be doable and a more logical and less cumbersome option than the EU route. But if John or his partner are struggling with the TEV requirements or if John already had migration plans then the EU route could be a logical one.
Visiting an IND desk, there are several of them and you can find the addresses on IND.nl can certainly do no harm if someone wants to do the TEV (immigration) procedure or wants to know something about the Visa (short stay) procedure. However, you can already find the basic information on IND.nl, among others, with a customer service guide and brochures that tell more about the TEV and visa procedures.
The Netherlands does not set any requirements for the living space, how many rooms or seats your house has will be a concern in the Netherlands. This applies to both short stays (there are no requirements regarding the home in any Schengen Member State, it does not even have to be one's own home) but also to immigration (in that case the countries may determine their own policy, the Netherlands does not impose any accommodation requirements).
You will only receive a case number if there is a file or if the TEV procedure has been started.
The foreign national receives a V (foreigners) number as soon as he has submitted a TEV or visa procedure. This is a unique number, each foreign national has one number and each number is linked to one person (sometimes this goes wrong, in practice the IND sometimes wants to assign a new V number even though the foreign national already has a V number from previous short stay visas ).
Guarantor by a third party (parents, etc.) is possible with a short-stay visa, but not with the TEV procedure. If someone does the EU route, you can have a sponsor like your parents to show that you have an income that is sufficient not to be a burden to the state.