Schengen visa question: On holiday to Belgium, can I book a hotel?

Dear editors,

I have a question regarding the schengen visa. I am staying in Thailand in Bang Saray with an extension, I am not registered at the Belgian embassy and my permanent place of residence is Gran Canaria Spain.

I have been living with my Thai girlfriend and her 2-year-old daughter for 7 years now. We applied for passports for both of them and it was approved and should arrive within a week. Now I would like to go to Belgium with them to meet my family, so a 14 days to Belgium and also a 14 days to Spain to my own home.

In the file I keep seeing that a document must be drawn up where they are going to stay and this document must be confirmed by the town hall. But how can I.that since I am in Thailand? Is it possible that I book a hotel, that I can pay on arrival? We would like to leave at the end of April. We can also fly to Spain first if this would be easier for the visa.

Thank you in advance for your answer.

Regards,

Marcel.

Dear Marcel,

If you cannot get in touch with your (Spanish or Belgian) town hall to arrange the accommodation papers, you can indeed choose to stay in a hotel. A hotel booking is sufficient, there is no requirement that it has been paid in full. For example, try a website such as Booking.com or Agoda and choose a hotel where you can make a booking with a credit card and only have to pay upon arrival. Then you will not lose any money if the visa is not issued. As a third option, you can also have a family member or friend provide accommodation. They must then arrange the accommodation papers at their town hall.

Regardless of whether you first go to Spain for a week or first to Belgium, you will have to show that you have accommodation for the entire stay.

Since you want to stay in both countries for the same length of time, it does make a difference in which country you go first. Because there is no country with a clear main residence, you will have to submit the application to the country of first entry. If you first go to Belgium, you must therefore submit the application to the Belgian embassy (or possibly to VFS, the optional external service provider). That can be useful because they naturally understand your Belgian papers without you having to come up with an (English) translation.

Extra information:

In theory, Spain would be easier because the EU Directive 2004/38 on the free movement of persons dictates that a relationship “similar to a marriage” falls under flexible rules. you would say that living together for 2 years is comparable to a relationship as a married couple. For the Netherlands, for example, that kite would work and the Netherlands would treat you (Thai and Belgian) under the more flexible rules. However, the Spaniards are a lot more difficult, in practice they will simply set the standard requirements for you. So unfortunately there is no advantage to be gained here.

Finally:

End of April is coming soon! It can take as long as 2 weeks to get an appointment at the embassy and another 2 weeks for the application to be processed (or even longer, if you have any questions or doubts about the application!). I therefore always recommend starting at least a month in advance - and preferably even earlier. In order not to come out too tight, you should make an appointment request at the embassy next week.

Good luck,

Regards,

Rob V