8. Registration of your declaration of cohabitation in the national register With the policy of eradicating marriages of convenience in 2009, the number of false marriages has decreased. However, rejected marriage seekers have instead channeled their strategies towards legal coexistence. Several conditions must be met to make a declaration of legal coexistence, that is, both parties must: inevitably, such a negative phenomenon creates more bureaucracy and obstacles for future applicants who really want to apply for a cohabitation visa to live with their loved ones. However, these statistics do not include cases in which two persons living together are entered in the waiting register. In order to obtain consistent statistics, we have also excluded a few rare cases where there is a contradiction between the civil status and the situation of the legal cohabitation community (persons clearly married (or divorced) on the basis of a “reasonable” observation period; Cases related to late – but “appropriate” – registration of divorces are therefore included in the statistics). If you prefer to conclude a contract specifically adapted to your situation, ask the notary together for a cohabitation contract. Obviously, you can`t put anything illegal into it, like a clause asking you to stay loyal to each other. If that`s what you want, marriage may be a better option. You can officially live together through a declaration of legal cohabitation, which is made in the presence of the official registration office of your place of residence. With this option, you get more protection than if you live together unofficially. Together, you have almost the same rights and obligations as a married couple. 36,329 declarations on legal coexistence were notified.
This is an 11% decrease from 2019. The number of legal dissolutions of cohabitation is still down: -16.9% compared to 2019 to 21,845. For added security, you can ask a notary to draw up a cohabitation contract. This contract has nothing to do with your status of living together officially or unofficially: it concerns almost exclusively the practical aspects. For example, you specify who owns what. Or who pays the rent for a particular property when you separate. In 2020, marriage was the leading cause of cessation of legal cohabitation in 47.9% of cases and consensual declaration in 41.8% of cases. In 2019, 53.3% of legal unions ended in marriage and 38.2% after a consensual declaration.
2. For a certificate that you are not currently legally married, please contact the town hall of your residence in Belgium “gemeente / commune” and request such a declaration. Hello Athena, there is an age limit of the Belgian Department of Immigration. You and your partner must be at least 21 years old to apply for legal cohabitation, or over 18 years old if you have lived together for at least 1 year. This proof must be accompanied by the necessary legalization. In my case, legalization was carried out by the Embassy of Belgium in the Philippines. I am a foreigner with a Belgian partner who lives in legal coexistence. Do you know if we want to dissolve coexistence, do I have to leave Belgium or is there a possibility to ask to stay in the country? I have a permanent job in a stable company. The cost is about 190 to 225 € to terminate the legal cohabitation contract. Legal coexistence is open to all people living together in Belgium.
It is therefore available for both heterosexual and homosexual couples. It is also possible to live under the legal system with a family member or with someone with whom you have a relationship without sexual connotations. Fortunately, there is little paperwork. All you have to do is go to the registration office of your place of residence and sign a declaration indicating the end of your cohabitation. You can sign a declaration of legal cohabitation if: Essentially, formal cohabitation and cohabitation as a married couple are more formal than unofficial cohabitation. There are a number of similarities between formal cohabitation and marriage: if you move in with your boyfriend or girlfriend and don`t sign up for the community as official cohabitation, you are forming a “de facto” (unofficial) family. The advantage: They enjoy greater freedom than with other forms of living together. The legal status as a foreigner in Belgium would be similar to that of our Belgian/EU partner in many ways, having obtained a right of residence. On the other hand, Belgian law prohibits marriages and legal unions for illegal purposes. This year, statbel is publishing for the first time statistics on the declaration of legal coexistence using the National Register of Natural Persons (RNPP).
Under the Act of 23 November 1998 on the establishment of legal cohabitation (published in the Moniteur belge of 12 January 1999), since 1 January 2000, two persons living together have been able to officially confirm their cohabitation. Therefore, legal cohabitation exists when two people living together make a declaration to this effect to their local authorities, regardless of their gender and relationship. The conditions for such a declaration are as follows: “legal cohabitation” means a situation in which two persons have made a declaration within the meaning of Article 1476 of the Belgian Civil Code. Hi Sander, the difference between asking for legal cohabitation and getting married is that the marriage proposal does not require you to know each other for 2 years. However, you still have to go through the same procedure to provide proof of relationship and the same waiting period as a person applying for legal cohabitation. We made our legal coexistence on April 24. The municipality agreed after a month, and we were asked to pay 200 euros. The police came and checked me. They never asked for proof of our relationship, no orange card, not even after three months. My friend went there. The lady in charge of our proceedings said that the application had been sent to the Gerecht Bank, so we should wait for their verdict. Hello! I am currently 18 years old and I am from the United States.
I have been with my Belgian partner for 3 years. Can I apply for this legal cohabitation with him or is there a certain age limit? In the first half of this year, 32,510 Belgians registered with the municipality as living legally together, while only 24,372 were registered as married.