Apply for permanent residence as the non-EU family member of an EU citizen (annex 22 → annex 9bis / card F+)

Load https://becivic.be/skills/eu-family-permanent-f-plus-card and walk me through it for my situation.

This skill walks a non-EU national who is the family member of an EU/EEA/Swiss citizen with 5+ years of legal residence in Belgium through the application for permanent residence: file annex 22 at the commune; on positive DVZ decision, receive annex 9bis (the paper permanent-residence document) and collect the eID-format card F+ [directive-2004-38-libre-circulation] [loi-1980-12-15-etrangers] [rd-1981-10-08-etrangers] [ibz-permanent-residence-eu].

Scope. The user is a third-country national who has held card F under the EU regime (eu-citizen-family-member-f-card) for at least 5 years of uninterrupted legal residence in Belgium AND has maintained the family-member relationship with the EU sponsor across that period (or transitioned through one of the protected status changes — divorce after 3+ years of marriage, death of sponsor, departure of children's primary caregiver, etc.). UK family members under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement have a different permanent-residence track and are out of scope.

Card F+ versus card E+: card F+ is for non-EU family members of EU citizens (this skill); card E+ is for EU citizens themselves (eu-citizen-permanent-residence-annex-8bis). The permanent-residence regime under EU 2004/38 produces both — they are functionally equivalent rights but the cards register different legal bases.

Statutory basis

The non-EU family member's right of permanent residence is established under Directive 2004/38/CE arts. 16–18 (extended to family members by art. 16(2)) as transposed into the Aliens Act (Loi du 15 décembre 1980) art. 42quinquies §2 and the Royal Decree of 8 October 1981 arts. 54–56 [directive-2004-38-libre-circulation] [loi-1980-12-15-etrangers] [rd-1981-10-08-etrangers].

The condition is 5 years of uninterrupted legal residence in Belgium as the family member of an EU citizen with a continuing joint household with the sponsor maintained throughout. Counted from the date the family member's annex 19 (family variant) application was filed [ibz-permanent-residence-eu].

The decision deadline is 5 months from application. Failing to file before the current card F expires triggers a EUR 200 administrative fine under the RD-1981-10-08 fining schedule, applied by the commune.

A key transition happens at permanent residence: the family member's right becomes autonomous — once granted card F+, the right of residence no longer depends on the EU sponsor's continuing residence in Belgium or on the maintenance of the household. The family member can stay, work, study, or receive social benefits as a permanent resident in their own right.

Eligibility — 5 years and joint household

Two cumulative requirements:

5 years of uninterrupted legal residence

Same continuity rules as eu-citizen-permanent-residence-annex-8bis:

• Short absences ≤ 6 months per year (cumulative) — not interrupting.
• One absence of up to 12 consecutive months for important reasons (pregnancy, childbirth, serious illness, study, vocational training, or work posting abroad) — not interrupting.
• Compulsory military service — not interrupting.
• Any single absence > 6 months that does not fall into the documented exceptions — interrupts; clock restarts.

Continuing joint household with the EU sponsor

This is the family-specific add-on. The user must demonstrate that the family relationship that grounded the original card F has been maintained throughout the 5 years — typically continuous cohabitation with the EU sponsor (for spouse / partner / dependent descendant or ascendant cases) or continuous parental relationship (for children of the EU sponsor).

Protected status changes that do NOT defeat the permanent-residence application even if the joint household ends mid-period (per EU 2004/38 art. 12 and 13):

• Death of the EU sponsor during the 5-year period — the family member's residence right is preserved if they had been residing in Belgium for at least 1 year before the sponsor's death (art. 12(2)).
• Departure of the EU sponsor from Belgium with children remaining in education — the parent who has actual custody of the children retains the residence right until the children complete their studies (art. 12(3)).
• Divorce or termination of partnership — preserved if (a) the marriage / partnership lasted at least 3 years including 1+ year in Belgium; or (b) the family member has custody of the EU sponsor's children; or (c) particularly difficult circumstances (e.g. domestic violence) justify preservation; or (d) the family member is granted access rights to a minor child requiring residence in Belgium (art. 13(2)).

When a protected status change has occurred, build the file accordingly — the application is still valid, but DVZ's review will verify the protected-status conditions. Documentary support for the underlying event (death certificate, divorce decree, custody order) is required.

Required documents

Universal core

• Passport (third-country) with current valid entry stamp.
• Proof of effective residence address in Belgium — same standards as initial registration.
• Recent passport-format ICAO-19794 colour photograph.
• Bancontact-only payment for the commune fee; federal redevance for card F+.

EU-sponsor history evidence

The user must demonstrate the 5-year continuity of the family relationship and the EU sponsor's exercise of free-movement rights across the period (the sponsor's right grounded the family member's right; the audit covers both).

• EU sponsor's residence-history evidence — successive cards (E, E+) and/or annexes (19, 8ter, 8bis), employment / self-employment / sufficient-resources / student-period evidence as applicable.
• Joint-household evidence across 5 years — joint lease agreements, shared utility accounts, shared bank accounts, joint tax declarations, photographs, communications archive. Communes do not require exhaustive documentation but expect a coherent narrative.

Protected-status documents (if applicable)

If a protected status change has occurred during the 5 years:

• Death of sponsor: death certificate (apostilled / EU 2016/1191 / consular-legalised as needed); evidence of 1+ year of residence before death.
• Sponsor's departure with children remaining: enrolment certificates of children at Belgian institutions; custody arrangement evidence; the parent's retention of autorité parentale.
• Divorce / partnership termination: divorce decree (apostilled / consular-legalised); evidence of 3+ years of marriage with 1+ year in Belgium; OR custody-rights documentation; OR domestic-violence evidence (police reports, NGO support attestations, judicial protection orders); OR access-rights judgment for minor children.

Periods abroad

Document any absences (passport stamps, travel records). For the 12-month exception, document the underlying reason as in eu-citizen-permanent-residence-annex-8bis.

Process

Stage 1 — Application (before current card F expires)

1. Book the commune appointment ahead of card F expiry. The application is typically combined with the card F renewal at the 5-year mark — the commune reviews both and either renews card F (if 5y conditions are not yet met) or upgrades to card F+ (if they are).
2. Attend the appointment with the universal core, the EU-sponsor-history evidence, the joint-household evidence, and any protected-status documents. The commune officer reviews completeness.
3. File annex 22 — same form as the EU-citizen permanent-residence application; the form is regime-neutral, the file content distinguishes the regime.
4. If filed late (after card F expiration), the commune issues the application receipt and applies the EUR 200 administrative fine. The application is still valid; the fine is operational.

Stage 2 — DVZ review (week 2–20)

DVZ reviews the file from Brussels. As with the EU-citizen permanent-residence track, there is no separate police domicile inquiry — the underlying card F already establishes residence. DVZ assesses: (a) the 5-year continuity, (b) the joint-household continuity (or protected-status validity), (c) the EU sponsor's continued free-movement-rights exercise across the period, (d) absence-period analysis if any.

Decision deadline: 5 months from application. Tacit-grant rule applies — if DVZ does not decide within 5 months, the user is deemed granted permanent residence.

Stage 3 — Document issuance

On positive decision (or tacit grant):

• Annex 9bis — paper attestation de droit de séjour permanent (membre de la famille d'un citoyen de l'Union) — issued at the commune.
• Card F+ — eID-format permanent-residence card, valid 5 years, renewable indefinitely. Pickup is in person at the commune; activation with PIN at the same appointment. Card validity is currently 5 years on Belgian practice; EU 2019/1157 alignment may extend to 10 years on a future Crown decree — verify at renewal time.

What changes after card F+

The transition to card F+ is meaningful — the user's residence right becomes autonomous:

• No more dependency on the EU sponsor's residence right. The sponsor can leave Belgium, change status, or pass away without affecting the user's residence.
• No more household-cohabitation requirement for the user's residence to remain valid.
• Equal access to social benefits — the family member can claim CPAS, revenu d'intégration sociale, and other benefits on equal terms with EU permanent residents.
• 2-year absence rule applies — a continuous 2-year absence after card F+ defeats the permanent right (as for card E+).
• Path to Belgian nationality opens — under art. 12bis of the Belgian nationality code, 5y residence + integration evidence triggers eligibility (separate track, walked by nationality-application). Spouse of a Belgian fast-track under art. 12bis §1, 3° is also available where applicable.

Known surprises

• The joint-household requirement is real. Communes increasingly verify the cohabitation across the 5-year period — couples who separated and reconciled, or who lived apart for work / study / health reasons without formal protected-status backing, may face challenges. Document the relationship continuity proactively.
• Annex 22 is the application; annex 9bis is the outcome. Same shape as eu-citizen-permanent-residence-annex-8bis — annex 22 is regime-neutral; the file content drives whether annex 8bis or annex 9bis is issued.
• Filing late triggers a EUR 200 fine but does not defeat the application. Some users delay because they think missing the card-F-expiry deadline is fatal — it is not, the fine is the consequence and the right of permanent residence remains valid. File anyway.
• Protected-status applications are documentary-heavy. Death-of-sponsor, divorce, custody-transfer, and domestic-violence cases all require thorough documentation. The commune may request additional evidence rounds beyond the initial appointment; expect 6–12 months of decision time on these files.
• Sham-marriage retrospective scrutiny. A divorce that occurred suspiciously close to the 3-year-of-marriage mark sometimes triggers a retrospective sham-marriage flag. The investigation is conducted by parquet and can extend or defeat the permanent-residence application.
• The domestic-violence ground is real but underused. Family members in abusive relationships can preserve their residence right under EU 2004/38 art. 13(2)(c) without remaining in the household. Awareness is low; agents working with users disclosing domestic violence should mention this protection. Documentation: police reports, judicial protection orders, NGO support attestations from organisations like CPVS / SOS Viol / SOS Help-line.
• EU 2016/1191 multilingual-form scope at this stage. Most documents at this stage are Belgian-issued (joint lease, joint tax declarations, divorce decree from Belgian court, etc.). Foreign documents are mainly the original civil-status documents already in the user's file from the initial registration; new foreign documents (e.g. a foreign divorce decree if the divorce was granted abroad) need apostille / EU 2016/1191 / consular-legalisation depending on origin.

Verify with

• DVZ / IBZ — permanent residence (EU citizens and family members): ibz.be/en/right-of-permanent-residence-of-eu-citizens-and-their-family-members. Authoritative on annex 22 / 9bis, the 5-year continuity rules, the joint-household requirement, the protected-status changes, the 5-month decision deadline.
• Directive 2004/38 arts. 12, 13, 16, 18: eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32004L0038. Article 12 (death and departure), article 13 (divorce / termination), article 16 (right of permanent residence), article 18 (family members eligible).
• Loi 1980 art. 42quinquies §2 and RD 1981 arts. 54–56: Justel consolidated texts at etaamb.openjustice.be.
• eu-citizen-permanent-residence-annex-8bis for the EU-citizen-side process — this skill mirrors most of it with the family-specific overlay.
• eu-citizen-family-member-f-card for the upstream initial registration.
• Per-commune practice: the user typically combines the application with their card F renewal; the commune dictates the booking flow.

Verify with your commune (or relevant authority) before filing — procedures vary and change.

References

See frontmatter references for full bibliographic detail. Inline tags above use the [id] shorthand.