Hi to everyone,

I am a non-EU national, and at the moment I am doing a paid training in Brussels. My boyfriend (we lived together in Ireland for 4.5 years) is an Irish citizen and he is living in Dublin. While I have full residency rights for Ireland, these do not extend to Belgium as Ireland is not a part of Schengen zone.

Ideally we would like to move to Belgium. And, as it is much easier for me to find employment in Brussels than it is for my boyfriend, it would be just so easy if I could work without restrictions so he can just take his time to find a suitable position.

My current employment in Belgium was work-permit-free as it is for an international organization and it is shorter than 12 months. Before I came to Belgium I applied for a D stay visa. Later I registered at the commune in Brussels and received some sort of "etranger"-registration card (foreigner identity card) valid for the duration of my internship.

Now, the actual question. If my boyfriend comes to Belgium now while I am here on training (I am here now for more than 6 months), will we be able to register our partnership in some way?

As far as I know a non-EU national and an EU national can register/marry once one of them has been in Belgium for more than 6 months. Does my boyfriend has to stay in Belgium for more than 6 months before we can do that? Or is it sufficient that I have spent over 6 months here?

Also how long does the whole procedure take? Will he have to work here in order for us to register?

Thanks.