We started BE-Locate because we were once standing in the wrong line at the commune.
Between the two of us: commune appointments in a language we barely spoke, a bank account opened through Google Translate, and a mutuelle registration that took three tries. We know exactly how many hours it eats up, how bad the Facebook group advice usually is, and how much a parent overseas worries when they can't just drive over and fix it.
BE-Locate means you don't have to piece it together from fifteen browser tabs, and your parents don't have to wonder if you're okay. We run this ourselves, meet you in person, and stay reachable long after the paperwork's filed.
Optional updates for the people worrying from afar.
If you want, we'll send photos and progress updates, like the day you arrive or the day your registration clears, to someone back home. It's opt-in on both sides: you agree to share, and we check with your family member directly before sending them anything. Nothing goes out automatically.
Any city, any commune, any postal code.
Big city or small, your postcode shouldn't decide whether you get a real person on the phone. Tell us where you're headed. If we haven't been there yet, we will be by the time you land.
Two passports, four countries between us, and a shared hatred of PDF forms.
Shoko
Co-founder, visa survivor, professional foodie
Japanese-born and well-travelled, Shoko has packed her life into a suitcase for Australia, Scotland, Ireland, and now Belgium, collecting visa horror stories at every stop. She's sat in the waiting room holding the wrong stamp on the wrong form more times than she'd like to admit. These days she spends that energy hunting down the best food in town and making sure your paperwork doesn't go the same way hers did.
Sam
Co-founder, local guide, professional paperwork whisperer
Sam is Belgian, but he's also lived abroad in Taiwan, Ireland, and the Netherlands, so he knows the paperwork maze from both sides: the one you're stuck in, and the local shortcuts out of it. Basically, your home-field advantage.
Two people, one group chat, zero hold music.