Is there a maximum age difference to get married in Belgium?

Answer

Dear Marie

In Belgium, in principle, it does not matter how much the future spouses differ in age. So there is no maximum age difference!

It is true that if one of the partners is a foreigner who could obtain residence rights in Belgium thanks to the marriage, the registrar of births, marriages and deaths will take a critical look at the age difference. After all, he may consider the age difference to be so great that this is one of the reasons for him to doubt the sincerity of the marriage and to suspect that it is a so-called ‘marriage of convenience’. A marriage of convenience occurs when a spouse does not want to form a genuine, lasting community of life with the other spouse, but only wants to obtain that right of residence in Belgium. Such marriages are not valid. On the basis of the large age difference alone, however, one will never really draw the conclusion that it is a marriage of convenience. It can only play a role.