Lao Boyfrriend to the Netherlands

[sjaak327]

Hi, I just wanted to share that my Lao boyfriend is going to make a permanent move to the Netherlands.

I have a relationship with my boyfriend for more then 5 years. The last three years he has been in the Netherlands 6x90 days. Which basically comes down to 3 months NL, 3 months away, 3 months NL repeat repeat. These visits have all been on the normal Schengen visa, which is good for maximum 90 days.

During the 3 months that he was out of the country, I went to Thailand and Laos to see him there.

To apply for a provisional visa (MVV) you need to pass an exam, which has two parts, the first part is 30 questions regarding the Dutch society, the second part is Dutch language. To pass the exam, you need to have 70 points on the first and 16 points on the second part.

My last holiday in Thailand (starting 11-9) was basically dedicated to being able to apply for this MVV. He did his exam at the Dutch embassy in Bangkok on 16-9 (score 100/30, which is maximum score on the first part and more then enough on the second part).

So the biggest hurdle for applying for MVV was taken (or so I thought). On 18-9 he had to leave Thailand, and we went to Vientiane, stayed there until the 21st when we went to his parents. Apart from visiting them, the other reason going there was to get a certificate of martial status. Which we obtained on the 22nd. Back to Vientiane, as this document needs to be translated and legalised. That was quite a daring task. But eventually on the 24th we had a translated document, and submitted it for legalisation with the Lao Ministry of foreign affairs Of course they made us wait until the 28th to collect it again.

Which we did, straight back to Bangkok, as we had an appointment for applying for the visa on the 29th. Of course the Dutch embassy also needs to legalise the document, with a turnout of three days !. Luckily they made the arrangment to legalise the document together with the visa appointment.

Of course I also need to submit various documents (martial status, information regarding my income). The normal procedure is that after my partner has submitted the application, I get a letter from the IND (the agency that handles the visa application) requesting my documents. I got this letter on october 1st whilst still in Thailand. No problem, as I returned to the Netherlands on the 4th. I submitted all my documents (collected before my holiday) on the 5th. Paid the substantial visa fee (тВм830) on the 4th.

I got confirmation that everything was received last friday, now all I can do is wait for a positive decision. When that comes, my boyfriend needs to go to the embassy, to get the visa sticker, then he can get on the plane (providing we find him a seat) and go to the Netherlands.

I just hope they don't take much time to approve the visa

Once in the Netherlands, we can apply for a residency permit, and he can start his job in the Netherlands (yes he does have a job offer already )

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[Beachlover]

Interesting... thanks for posting this sjaak327... good luck with settling in! Your BF must be really happy.

[Brad the Impala]

Hi Sjaak, I hope that the issuing happens soon! I know the feeling that you get when you have jumped through all the hoops, only to discover there is still another hoop or two to go. It sounds like you have been most thorough, which is at least 50% of the process.

Are you registering a Civil Partnership? I wondered why you needed a certificate of marital status, we only needed ours(for the UK) as part of the paperwork required to register our Civil Partnership.

My partner received a 5 year UK visa this year, after all the toing and froing, and short term visas, it is a wonderful feeling of freedom and validation when a long term visa is finally received.

[sjaak327]

Yeah I hope they will award the visa soon, they always communicate a due date, mine is set to half of january 2010, but I have every reason to believe that it might be a month or so, until he can come over.

We don't have any registered partnership (not possible in Lao PDR in any case). So the basis of his visa is that he comes to live with me. We both have to be unmarried for that visa to be awarded, hence the need for a martial status certificate. (unmarried in our case

[cdnmatt]

I'm curious, what type of visa are you applying for? It sounds as though it's for permanent residency status, but then you mention once he gets this visa, he can apply for residency once in the Netherlands.

I'm just curious how it all works, because I've been through this process before with my ex. We was (err, I mean is) Hungarian, and we got him permanent residency status to Canada. That was a fairly daunting task which took about 18 months, $7000, a 3 inch thick application, and tons of fucking around gathering various documents, translating, etc. And people in Canada constantly bitch about how we just let anyone in, go figure. Now that he has it though, he has access to everything in Canada (except welfare), and there's no more hoops or applications. He can get a job, start a company, get health care, etc.

Just wondering how it works out there, because so far from what you posted, it doesn't seem too bad. Then again, it doesn't seem as though he's applying for permanent residency status either. Either way, hope the approval comes sooner than later!

[sjaak327]

The goal is permanent residency. The way it works is (roughly)

MVV visa 6 months (this is a provisional visa which allows for a 6 months duration of stay).

To get MVV you need to fullfill the following requirements:

Both partners 21 or above
Sponsor (or partner in NL):Minimum income of 120% of minimum nett wage, which amounts to around тВм 1580 per month, exluding tax and excluding holiday allowance. Also needs to guarantee for a period of 5 years.
The foreign partner needs to successfully pass the civic exam (which I described in the OP).

Visa cost:

Visa тВм830
Exam тВм 350

And for legalising /translating documents around тВм 200 give or take. Add costs for learning the language, books etc, even though in our case they were not that high, I recon a total of тВм200.

Now once my partner has this visa, he can travel to the Netherlands, and once there, he can apply for a VVR which is a residency permit for one year. This costs тВм188 and is merely a formality. After this year, he can extend this permit for another 5 years at the same cost.

This VVR entitles him to work, and do most other things that normal Dutch citizens are entitled to.

[dab69]

now I am jealous of you twice


any-other-country/netherlands-t17221.html

[sjaak327]

^ haha.

His visa is approved, and if everything goes as planned, he will be back in the Netherlands next week This time he will not have to leave after three months, the residency permit is now just a administrative matter.

We are both bloody happy

Congrats Sjaak !!!

It is a lot of paperwork indeed....I did it with my own BF also and really it is not easy to go this road. Now your boyfriend
also need to start to do the "integration course" (inburgering) and believe me....he needs a lot of motivation for that. He
has 3.5 years max. for doing this an making his exam. In my opinion our governenment created a kind of discouragement
environment when it comes to new-comers in our country. Anyway....we walked the walk...and talked the talk and only
the believe in eachother will give you enough power to succeed....have a good life together....and enjoy!!!

[sjaak327]

Thanks Tommy

He already got his residency permit (intially one year), today he started his first day at work (at least officially . We are going to arrange the course for the integration course, maybe we will go down the alternative road, NT2 staatsexamen, as his dutch is fairly good. At least he will need to go on evening courses, as he needs to work during the day. To be honest, I'm not too worried about it, as the level is only B2, which should be easy for my boyfriend, the only thing that seems annoying is that portfolio stuff, as if we were children needing guidance