And we’re back! The cohabitation process continues. This is step 2 of the process.
After somewhat registering as a tourist at the city hall in Leuven (see my last post), I booked a next appointment to officially sign my cohabitation papers.
I made sure to book it at a time where my boyfriend, Milan, could attend, because he needed to be there to sign the papers as well.
I made sure to bring along with me my passport, some euros (it cost 25 euros to sign cohabitation papers), and my search of marriage document from Canada. I got this document from Service Ontario and it proved that I had no record of marriage in Ontario in the last 10 years. Before coming to Belgium, I had to make sure to get the search of marriage legalized and notarized by the Belgian Embassy in Canada (located in Montreal). There is also one in Ottawa; but this needs to be done at the Montreal embassy.
I had a terrible experience with the embassy in Montreal, they never replied to my emails for weeks or answered any questions I had. I ended up using the service called International Documents Canada to get my papers legalized and notarized. They were SO helpful; they answered questions right away and got everything done for me in record time. This cost me about $200 Canadian.
This is the single most important document you need to bring with you when you are signing the cohabitation agreement. I had read some things online saying that the Belgian resident would also have to provide proof that they are single, but this was not the case for us.
After declaring cohabitation, handing over the documents, money, and signing the official papers, we got two copies of the document that proved our cohabitation. We were told we could move on to the next part of the process, which was something I needed to do solo – this is called some different names but largely it is referred to as “family reunification”. I made a next appointment for my application for family reunification which would eventually grant me a work permit and Belgian resident status.
Almost done!! Feel free to ask me if you have any questions.
all over the place 
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