Process of an application for a long-stay visa (visa D) forwarded to the Immigration Department by an embassy or consulate general of Belgium
1. DELIVERY
- Delivery of the visa application by diplomatic post.
- Receipt of diplomatic mail by FPS Foreign Affairs.
- Forwarding of the visa application to the Immigration Department.
- Receipt of the visa application at the Immigration Department.
- Delivery of the visa application to the competent service
This initial shipping phase generally takes 2-3 weeks. [The deadline for sending a visa application depends on the internal organisation of the embassy or consulate general.]
During this first stage, the visa application does not appear in the application « Processing of a visa application ». There is no point in contacting the Immigration Department's Info Desk as they will not be able to provide you with information on the status of this application.
2. LOGISTICS
- Sorting of visa applications delivered daily to the department (date of submission of the application, date of receipt at the Immigration Department, subject of the application, registration in a dashboard)
- Sending of the visa application (paper file) for scanning
- Return of the (digital) visa application to the service
- Looking up the applicant in the database of the Immigration Department
- Registration of the digitised visa application in the individual electronic file of a known applicant (0 + 7 digits).
- Creation of an individual electronic file (0 + 7 digits) for an unauthorised applicant and registration of the digitised visa application in this file.
This second logistics phase may take a while, especially during certain times of the year.
During this second phase, the visa application is registered in the individual file (NEW), but it does not yet appear under "Processing of a visa application". There is no point in contacting the Immigration Department's Info Desk as they will not be able to provide you with information on the status of this application.
3. IDENTIFICATION
- Looking up the visa application in the list of visa applications to be processed by the department.
- Creation of a link between the visa application and the applicant's individual file (IDENT).
This third stage of identifying the application may take some time, especially during certain times of the year.
Upon completion of this third stage, the visa application will appear in the application « Processing of a visa application ».
4. PROCESSING
Applications are generally handled chronologically, that is, from the oldest to the most recent application. However, certain factors internal or external to the service may disrupt this chronological order.
To the extent possible, the Immigration Department shall make its decision within the time limit set by the legislature.
During this fourth stage, the visa application appears in the application « Processing of a visa application », as well as the status of the process : (1) is examined, (2) additional documents, (3) approval or (4) refusal.
There is no point in contacting the Immigration Department's Info Desk before the deadline for the Immigration Department to make a decision has passed.
PLEASE NOTE: During busy periods, the distinction between the third and fourth phases is not quite as clear. In other words, it is common for a visa application to be identified and processed simultaneously. So the result of the search is likely to be an immediate « approval » or « refusal » .