Seven applications, eight years of legal battles: Moroccan man gets Belgium’s refusal annulled

The journey began on March 22, 2018. The Moroccan man applied for a residence card as a family member of a citizen of the European Union, in this case his uncle, who is a Dutch national.

Six months later, the Immigration Office refused his application and ordered him to leave the country. He tried again on December 18, 2018. This second application met the same fate in June 2019, but the Moroccan man brought the case before the Council for Alien Law Litigation (CCE) and obtained a first annulment on October 28, 2019.

However, the administration issued a new refusal in April 2020. This time, his appeal was rejected.

The Moroccan man did not give up. He submitted a third application on November 17, 2020, still relying on his Dutch uncle. Another refusal followed in May 2021.

A few weeks later, on July 9, he submitted a fourth application. The Immigration Office rejected it on January 7, 2022, and again ordered him to leave Belgium. Once again, the Moroccan man challenged the decision and won his case: the CCE annulled it on May 12, 2022.

His journey is reminiscent of that of another Moroccan man who has been in Belgium for more than 17 years, whose refusal of residence and order to leave the country were annulled.

On Bladi.net : Belgium Orders Him to Leave the Country After His Residency Application, This Moroccan Man Gets the Decisions Annulled

A fifth application followed on January 3, 2023, still based on his family relationship with his uncle.

But his personal situation changed a few weeks later. On February 23, 2023, his legal cohabitation with his Belgian partner was officially registered.

A three-year entry ban

The case did not become any simpler. On June 7, 2023, the Immigration Office once again refused his residence application and issued an order for him to leave the country. That same day, the administration also imposed a three-year entry ban on him.

The Moroccan man challenged both decisions, but the CCE rejected his appeal in October 2023.

He then changed the legal basis for his applications. On February 23, 2024, he submitted his sixth residence-card application, this time as the legal partner of a Belgian woman.

The Immigration Office refused again on August 19, 2024. Unlike several previous decisions, this refusal was not accompanied by an order to leave the country. The Moroccan man’s appeal was rejected in December.

Belgium has since tightened the conditions surrounding family reunification for many Moroccans, but the Moroccan national’s case had already been underway for several years.

On Bladi.net : Arriving in Belgium at 15 in 1974, this Moroccan man without a residence permit gets the CPAS convicted

On January 29, 2025, he tried for a seventh time. His application was again based on his Belgian partner.

On July 7, 2025, the Minister for Asylum and Migration issued a new refusal of residence for more than three months. The Moroccan man once again brought the case before the Belgian courts on August 6.

This seventh proceeding ultimately turned in his favor. In its judgment No. 345.821 of April 28, 2026, the Council for Alien Law Litigation annulled the decision issued on July 7, 2025.

This annulment does not mean that the Moroccan man automatically receives his residence card. The administration must examine his situation again and issue a new decision.

But after eight years of proceedings, seven residence applications, several orders to leave the country, a three-year entry ban, and already two previous annulments obtained before the CCE, Belgium’s latest refusal has now disappeared as well.