His wife’s income falls €65 short: Belgium refuses this Moroccan woman a visa, judge annuls decision

The Moroccan woman’s husband lives in Belgium with his mother. His monthly income amounts to €1,676.31, coming from unemployment benefits. His mother, for her part, receives the social integration income (RIS) at the cohabiting rate.

When the Moroccan woman applied for a family reunification visa to join him, she nevertheless provided the administration with a detailed file on the household’s expenses: rent, utilities, home insurance, health insurance fund, transport, telephone, internet, food and clothing.

The couple notably stressed that several expenses were shared with the husband’s mother. The rent, including water and gas, thus came to €657.79 for the home, or €328.89 for the husband after the costs were shared.

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This did not convince the Immigration Office. The administration found that the €1,676.31 received by the husband was lower than the €1,741.29 corresponding at the time to the social integration income of a person with a family to support. The difference was only €64.98.

But this was not the only reasoning used to refuse the visa.

The administration also noted that the husband’s mother had had to apply to the CPAS and herself received integration income. It inferred that if the son’s €1,676.31 was insufficient to meet the needs of the household he formed with his mother, it could not enable him to support his wife either.

In other words, the Office applied the same reasoning to the couple’s future life.

Justice rejects this “extrapolation”

The Moroccan woman challenged the refusal before the Council for Alien Law Litigation. And in its judgment No. 319.043 of 19 December 2024, the CALL directly censured this method.

The Council recalled that when the income presented is deemed insufficient, the administration must concretely determine the resources the household actually needs to live without becoming a burden on the public authorities.

It therefore could not be satisfied with a simple “extrapolation” based on the husband’s situation with his mother, the Council for Alien Law Litigation explained.

The Moroccan woman had specifically provided precise information making it possible to carry out this calculation. She had detailed her husband’s expenses and argued, with figures to support it, that his €1,676.31 enabled him to cover his expenses. She had even provided statistical references concerning household budgets.

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The CALL also noted an inconsistency in the administration’s reasoning. The Office excluded the integration income received by the mother when calculating the available resources. But it then used the fact that this same mother received the RIS to conclude that the son’s income was insufficient.

For the judges, this does not replace the individual assessment required by law. The actual needs of the future household consisting of the husband and his wife had to be calculated, rather than simply assuming that the arrival of an additional adult would produce the same situation.

The Council concluded that the Immigration Office had violated Article 42 of the Belgian law of 15 December 1980 and had failed to meet its obligation to give reasons. The Moroccan woman’s visa refusal was annulled.

This decision does not automatically grant her the visa. The administration must review the file and issue a new decision. But it can no longer rely on the same calculation: between the husband’s €1,676.31 and the €1,741.29 used as the benchmark, there was only a difference of €64.98, and the household’s actual situation had to be examined.