Travel To Belgium In Lockdown

[sotelme]

Hello. I know we are in full lockdown. It I can’t find more answers on government website
My granddaughter is being born end jan via caesarean and my son and daughter in law wants me to go there to look after their 3 year old whilst she is in hospital. Is this special circumstances??how and who can I speak to to find this out?

[jno]

can't help, sorry, but bear in mind you'll also need to check whether the Belgians will let you in.

[Zacs-Master]

I’m pretty sure that your son would be expected to miss the birth in such a circumstance rather than risk the spread of the virus.

[198kHz]

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/belgium

[New Judge]

You have two problems:
1. UK Lockdown legislation says that you must have a "reasonable excuse" for leaving home. Your reason is not on the non-exhaustive list of reasonable excuses and I doubt it will be seen as such.

2. Entry to Belgium from a "Third Country" (which the UK now is) is restricted to a very limited number of reasons:
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Travelling to Belgium from a third country (a country that is not a member of the EU nor of the Schengen area)
!! As of 01.01.2021 the United Kingdom belongs to this category of third countries.

Non-essential travels to Belgium are prohibited but exceptions are made for people with an essential function or need. These categories of exception, recommended by the European Commission, have been further specified at the Belgian level:

health professionals, health researchers and elderly care professionals;

frontier workers;

seasonal workers in agriculture;

transport personnel;

diplomats, staff of international organisations, people invited by international organisations whose physical presence is required for the well-functioning of these organisations, military personnel, federal police personnel, civil protection personnel, law enforcement personnel, personnel from the Immigration Office, customs personnel and humanitarian aid workers, in the exercise of their functions;

passengers in transit, both extra-Schengen (coming from a non-Schengen country) and intra‑Schengen (coming from a Schengen country);

**passengers travelling for imperative family reasons, meaning:
trips justified by family reunification; visits to a spouse or registered partner residing in Belgium when, for professional or personal reasons, the spouses or registered partners live apart;**

travel with an unregistered partner who does not live under the same roof; [Read more below]

travel within the framework of co-parenting;

travel for funerals or cremations (first- and second-degree relatives);

travel within the framework of civil or religious marriages (first- and second-degree relatives).
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The only reason which comes remotely close to qualifying is the one I have starred - and that does not seem to fit the bill. Best contact the Belgian Embassy but I have an idea you will get an answer you don't like.

[Zacs-Master]

Similar to mine.

[riptide]

Surely he has parents who can help. You really should not be travelling anywhere at the moment.

[MartinMillar]

Considering we were advised that attending my uncles funeral in Belgium was not a exception by the Belgium authorities I would doubt attending a birth is.