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Hello,

As your visa-free passport allows you to travel for 90d per 180 in Europe, you can travel during your family reunion application, as long as you've not already consume 90d!

You can, but it's not recommended. As during the orange card process, you can have police check at home anytime, administration to do at the commune etc...

As an advice, if you do it, keep it short like a city trip on the week-end but don't exceed more than a week!

Thanks! That's very helpful. Do you know what the penalties are if they do catch me leaving the country while on an orange card? I may have to travel for 2 weeks during the time I think I will have it. I have heard that the penalty is just an extension of the orange card period, but I am not sure.

The orange card is only recognized in Belgium. It has no value outside Belgium.
That document doesn't allow you to cross the border and come back in Belgium, it only allow you to stay temporally in the territory.

So, if you've a 90d visa-free passport per 180d, you've to make sure you didn't exceed the 90d when you come back, or you won't be able to cross the border and will be send back to your home country in the next first flight.

Thomas Burman wrote:

Thanks! That's very helpful. Do you know what the penalties are if they do catch me leaving the country while on an orange card? I may have to travel for 2 weeks during the time I think I will have it. I have heard that the penalty is just an extension of the orange card period, but I am not sure.

During my orange card period i use to go French side of border for shopping.

As far as i know there is no fine. But i know that if got cought by the authorities then card can be canceled and you have to re do your process.

Well, if you go by car and there's no check at the border, no one know, everything's fine.

But if we're talking about planes or boats... you can't even go on board if you exceed the 90d visa-free ...

There is no fines for it. As others have said, the only issue is that you might have big trouble entering Shengen zone if you have exceeded your 90d/180d tourist allowed days. Within Shengen there are no immigration controls. But if you travel outside Shengen zone the you have to go via immigration control regardless the nationality you have.
Orange Card is not an document that guaranties you the entry in Belgium.

no immigration control inside Schengen Area, true, but in case of plane/boat the company must check the 90d thing / visa / resident card (right to travel)!!!
And they might not even print the boarding card because of that!

But right now, if you're following the strikes of the police on the news in Belgium, they're trying to annoy as much as possible by checking everybody in Zaventem/Charleroi airport!
So... exceptionally bad idea in case you've already been there for 90d! => do not attempt!

    no immigration control inside Schengen Area, true, but in case of plane/boat the company must check the 90d thing / visa / resident card (right to travel)!!!And they might not even print the boarding card because of that!But right now, if you're following the strikes of the police on the news in Belgium, they're trying to annoy as much as possible by checking everybody in Zaventem/Charleroi airport!So... exceptionally bad idea in case you've already been there for 90d! => do not attempt!        -@AlexFromBelgium

@AlexFromBelgium, in this case, if I hold a U.S. passport and my residency card just expired today (awaiting a new one with an Annex 50 and an Annex 16bis), will there be an issue going on a 3 day business trip next week within Schengen (by plane)?

@AlexFromBelgium

Does the 90 day count pause when I get my orange card? So if I get my orange card 60 days in, do I then still have 30 days left that I can use whenever I want? Or does it have to be within 90 days from when I first entered Belgium? Thanks!!