Help Brad Cook Overcome Immigration and Health Hurdles

Hello!

I moved to Belgium from the US back in February of this year to live with/marry my now-wife, with the intent of bringing my main source of income (guitar repairs) over to my new home.

The entire guitar industry (at least here in the EU) seems to be suffering at this moment; friends in the area with brick and mortar shops are closing their doors for good while people are spending less money on their hobbies. Once I noticed this trend I began searching for work in other fields, selling about 75% of my possessions in the meantime.

For those who are unaware of the Belgian immigration process, a spouse coming over from another country must spend six months staying exclusively in the country or risk having their permanent residency application denied. This was the first hurdle in my job search, as many jobs in my immediate area refuse to hire people who aren’t native French speakers.

Another requirement for spousal immigration is having the Belgian immigrant make a certain amount of money annually during the application process. Around March, my wife lost her income and we were both forced into our savings. Because of this bureaucratic nightmare, my immigration application was eventually rejected on the grounds of our income being under their specified threshold.

Even further throwing a wrench into things, I developed some unknown health issues during this time that we have later partially diagnosed as pancreatitis and extreme mold allergy, both of which took about 3-4 months to properly pin down. Since I had/have no mode of income, everything sat idle for way too long while medical bills piled up.

I have found some temporary career paths to pursue in the meantime but they’ve put us in a weird position; since my wife is now on social services, I need to make sure that they hit a salary mark that won’t offset her state aid enough to put our combined income back under the threshold mark for me to properly immigrate here. We need any income to offset our daily living expenses, but also need to look out for our long-term living plan.

I’ve never really asked for help like this before, but if I can take care of my remaining debt I can more effectively survive out here as long as I need to properly integrate. If I go back to the US instead of renewing my application, I will be facing return fees as well as not being able to return to Belgium for up to 2 years. The money presented here is to cover what I still owe to the government/doctors, as well as any potential lawyer fees.

If you’d like to help in a different way, you can DM me on Instagram (@gardenofreality2000 ) about buying some pedals and eurorack stuff I’ll be making. US-based friends can buy Ixias stuff through Baby Chico’s webstore (babychicorecords.bigcartel.com), including a fundraiser tee and some limited edition records. If you’re in Belgium, hit me up for some guitar work or if you have any leads for other gigs! Or just if you think you can help in any other possible way, we’re feeling quite at odds with our situation.

My wife and I also have a YouTube channel (@Infeststationpv) that’s pretty close to being monetized, any subscribes/likes/shares there are super appreciated as well!

I love my wife and my new life. I don’t want to leave but I also don’t want to watch her life savings disappear because of me. Thanks for reading and I hope to give back the favor tenfold whenever possible.

-Brad