Changing country of Residence with a US Visa

[Redtooth]

First post here, with a problem someone can hopefully help with! The embassies/consulates have been pretty terrible, giving different information or none at all. I've tried searching for a similar situation but without luck...

I'm a french national, my wife is american. We plan to move to France to stay with family, so we got a long-stay visa for her. All good so far.

Now, however, I got a job offer in Brussels, which I accepted. Figured we already had a long stay visa, though should be an easy way to emigrate from France to Belgium, no? Well, the answer is no one knows.

Right now the plan is to go through French immigration (OFII), send the information, go in for the medical visit, get residence through my grandparents. Then we'll go into Belgium and register for a residence card there and hope no one notices?

Is there any fine or problems with claiming residence in more than one location? What are the legal consequences? I realize this is not a common problem, so hopefully someone has some idea of where I can go.

Like I mentioned, calling the embassies (in Chicago, DC, NY and Paris), the OFII and others has produced no results. One man told me not to worry about france, just go to belgium and ignore the rest. One lady told us we were screwed and that we couldn't fix it.

Any suggestions?

[Bevdeforges]

Actually, it's going to be easier for you to just go to Belgium and forget about France. As the spouse of an EU national, your wife is entitled to join you in Belgium as long as you are there to "exercise your EU rights" - i.e. working there. There is some sort of "simplified" registration process for her to settle in Belgium - you need to check with the Belgian consulate or with the local authorities there once you arrive. But she should be entitled to enter Belgium on a regular 90 day Schengen (stamp in the passport) visa and just apply for whatever their residence permit is, based on your nationality.

EU – Residence rights, non-EU spouses/children of EU nationals abroad - Your Europe for further details.
Cheers,
Bev

[Redtooth]

Thanks for the help Bev! I think we'll just try and get the belgium residency and spend the time in France as "tourists." We already have the tickets from US to France, so she'll have the French stamp. Would that affect residency at all?

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by Redtooth

Thanks for the help Bev! I think we'll just try and get the belgium residency and spend the time in France as "tourists." We already have the tickets from US to France, so she'll have the French stamp. Would that affect residency at all?

It really shouldn't. All the French stamp in the passport will do is "prove" that she entered the Schengen area legally. Which is a good thing as far as applying for Belgian residence.
Cheers,
Bev