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Divorced and filing for resident permit, help please!


#1  2012-05-27 02:52:57

Jinniselah
New member
From: Waterloo
Registered: 2012-05-27
Posts: 2

Divorced and filing for resident permit, help please!

I am a divorced woman and kept my married name.  My birth certificate has my maiden name obviously and my passport and other papers are in my married name.  Will I have a problem when registering at my local commune in Brussels?  Do I need a copy of my marriage license and/or divorce decree?  Are there any women out there that have done this?  If so, please tell me your experience.




 
 
 

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#2  2012-05-27 09:36:55

schoolmum
EB member +
From: Brussels
Registered: 2011-05-24
Posts: 545

Re: Divorced and filing for resident permit, help please!

When it comes to women and surnames, the reaction at the maison communale is going to depend on whoever is serving you. But normally you only need to show your passport, not birth certificate too, so don't offer the birth certificate and then you won't cause the dilemna as to which name the commune wants you registered under. It's a hard one, because if you're asked for the birth certificate, then you'll have to present it, then you might get the official insisting in you registering in your maiden name, not something you want if all your other IDs are in your married name.

I'd say do take your divorce decree, offer if it if asked. The maison communale did in fact insist on seeing my marriage certificate, as well as passport, before they would register the family as a family group.




 

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#3  2012-05-28 11:32:27

Bachelor
New member
From: Brussels
Registered: 2012-05-18
Posts: 7

Re: Divorced and filing for resident permit, help please!

well i think there should not be any problem becuase they look to your passport not the divorce certificate....

if u want you can contact me when reaching brussels for help




 
 
 

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#4  2012-05-29 15:14:36

David27
Active member
From: Brussels
Registered: 2011-09-12
Posts: 41

Re: Divorced and filing for resident permit, help please!

In my experience, passport is key. The belgians cannot do anything but take the names as they appear in a passport.

Is your name going to change next time you recieve a passport (upon expiry of the current one or if stolen)? If yes, then you need to worry. If your belgian residence card and new passport names do not match, you will have many issues travelling abroad. Once the residence card is issued, trying to change names is almost mission impossible. In this scenario, you'd better change your passport now.

Any discrepancy in birth certificates and other documentts is not an issue. In principle, you should be able to explain the difference if and when you are required to submit a copy of them.




 
 
 

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#5  2012-06-18 13:26:06

Yvelika7
New member
From: Leopoldsburg
Registered: 2012-06-18
Posts: 4

Re: Divorced and filing for resident permit, help please!

Hi - My experience is that they not only asked for my birth certificate but also KEPT it. This is a strange thing for English people as we own our birth certificate and we keep it, not the local commune. Anyway, I think the most important thing is that you can show a 'paper trail' i.e. your birth certificate, your marriage certificate showing your maiden name and change to your husbands name. After divorce you should have your decree absolute.
I am struggling with this problem as I wish to return to my maiden name as women here don't take their husbands name rather than in England where divorced women with children normally keep the ex's name so that they have the same name as their children unless they remarry ofc.




 
 
 

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#6  2012-06-18 13:37:08

hannahhadman
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hannahhadman
From: Gent
Registered: 2010-12-30
Posts: 723

Re: Divorced and filing for resident permit, help please!

Yeah it is perhaps advised to have more than one copy of your brith cert




 
 
 

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