Author
| Name in English | Number of staff in 2025[1] | Ministry responsible | Is there any political interference possible by the responsible Minister with the decision-making in individual cases by the determining authority? |
| Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) | N/A | Independent | In specific cases |
The CGRS is responsible for examining applications for international protection and is competent to take decisions at first instance. The institutional independence of the CGRS is explicitly laid down in law.[2] It thus takes individual decisions on asylum applications and does not take any instruction from the competent Minister for Asylum and Migration. However, under certain circumstances defined by the Aliens Act, the latter can be involved in asylum procedures. For example, the Ministry can ask the CGRS to re-examine a previously obtained protection status. It can also request from the determining authority to prioritise a specific case.[3] In March 2026, the government has approved the governance model of the future new Federal Public Service (FOD / SPF) Migration, which will fall under the authority of the Minister for Asylum and Migration.[4] As opposed to the current situation, where only the Immigration Office falls under the FPS Internal Affairs, the new FPS Migration will comprise the Immigration Office, the CGRS, the federal reception agency Fedasil and the Council for Alien Law Litigation (CALL). Concerns have been raised as to the independence of the CGRS and the CALL.[5] The Minister has confirmed that the integration will not compromise the independence of the institutions.[6]
In April 2024, 587 FTE were employed at the CGRS, 250 of which operational protection officers treating cases.[7] In the context of the “Belgian Operational Plan” for 2025-2026, several EUAA experts have been deployed to support CGRS activities in 2025, amongst which several interpreters and case workers.[8] This EUAA support will be continued in 2026.[9] Criticism related to the use of languages during the interviews and the impartiality of Greek EUAA experts treating admissibility cases from beneficiaries of international protection in Greece has led the CGRS to announce the implication of an EUAA case worker and the language of the interview on the invitation letter (see Interpretation).
In December 2021, the EUAA and Belgium signed their first operating plan, focusing on increasing reception capacity and improving reception quality, in the short and medium term.[10] Several amendments were signed, extending support into 2024.[11] In December 2024, the EUAA and Belgium agreed on an operational plan for 2025-2026, with support with regard to asylum procedures and reception.[12]
In December 2021, the EUAA and Belgium signed their first operating plan, focusing on increasing reception capacity and improving reception quality, in the short and medium term.[13] An amendment was signed in May 2022 following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and subsequent displacement,[14] followed by second amendment was signed in November 2022 extending the operational support throughout 2023,[15] and a third amendment in December 2023 extending support into 2024.[16] In December 2024, the EUAA and Belgium agreed on an operational plan for 2025-2026, with support with regard to asylum procedures and reception.[17]
Throughout 2025, the EUAA deployed 92 experts in Belgium,[18] mostly external experts (81). The majority of them were asylum procedures experts (23), access to asylum procedures experts (14), along with information and data management experts (7) and programme and project management experts (6).[19]
As of 15 December 2025, a total of 65 EUAA experts were deployed in Belgium, out of which 20 were asylum procedures experts, 14 were access to asylum procedures experts, 6 were information and data management experts and 5 were programme and project management experts.[20]
In 2025, 6,093 lodged asylum applications were registered with the support of EUAA personnel in Belgium. 56% of these related to the same 10 citizenships, mainly of nationals from Afghanistan (655), Eritrea (654), Palestine (481), Türkiye (320), Burundi (260), Guinea (233), Democratic Republic of Congo (226), Congo (205), Cameroon (201) an Somalia (187).[21]
In 2025, the EUAA carried out 828 registrations for temporary protection in Belgium.[22]
In 2025, EUAA caseworkers carried out interviews concerning 1,297 applicants, all of which related to the same 3 citizenships: Palestine (1,220), Syria (36) and Yemen (41).[23]
In 2025, the EUAA delivered 14 training sessions to a total of 148 local staff members.[24]
Regarding its internal structure, the CGRS is divided into geographical departments and units responsible for certain asylum procedures and/or certain asylum applicants.[25] It has two vulnerability-oriented units that provide support to caseworkers dealing with specific cases, as will be discussed further below. The Dublin procedure, however, is conducted by the Immigration Office before transmitting the application to the CGRS.
The CGRS issues internal guidelines on the decision-making process to be applied by caseworkers on asylum claims. These guidelines cover a variety of topics, such as the application of the first country of asylum criteria, the processing of subsequent applications, applications requiring special procedural needs or involving LGBTI persons, as well as the conduct of the border procedure. These guidelines are not public. New reports and policy changes relevant to the decision-making process are immediately communicated through an internal online network containing available country of origin information and other relevant guidelines on certain countries.
As regards quality control and assurance, the caseworker’s decision is discussed with a supervisor, reviewed by the head of the relevant geographical unit and finally approved by the Commissioner-General. The Commissioner-General thus reads and signs every decision and can decide to discuss any case further if needed. At the Immigration Office, however, no institutional mechanisms are in place to control the quality of decisions relating to Dublin cases.
[1] No data was provided for 2024.
[2] Article 57/2 Aliens Act.
[3] Article 57/6 §2(3) Aliens Act.
[4] News.Belgium, Governance Model of the new Federal Public Service Migration, 27 March 2026, available in Dutch and French here.
[5] The Guardianship service is also supposed to fall under the new FPS Migration; concerns regarding its independence have equally been raised (see Age Assessment of unaccompanied children).
[6] Federal Parliament, Committee on Home Affairs, Security, Migration, and Administrative Affairs, 20 January 2026, available in Dutch and French here, p. 2-4.
[7] Knack, Fact Check: The Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGVS) handles “four asylum cases per staff member,” but not all CGVS staff members are case workers, 30 April 2024, available in Dutch here.
[8] CGRS, Operational support of the EUAA to the CGRS, 7 February 2025, available in English here; Myria, Contact Meeting 23 April 2025, p. 18, available in Dutch and French here
[9] CGRS, Continuation of EUAA operational support, 9 March 2026, available in English here.
[10] EUAA, ‘Belgium: EASO launches operation to support reception authorities’, 16 December 2021, available here.
[11] EUAA, Operational Plan 2022 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and Belgium, amendment 1, May 2022, available here, annex 1. EUAA, Operational Plan 2022-2023 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and Belgium, amendment 1, November 2022, available here. EUAA, Operational Plan 2024 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and Belgium, amendment 3, December 2023, available here.
[12] EUAA, Operational Plan 2025-2026 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and Belgium, amendment 3, December 2024, available here.
[13] EUAA, ‘Belgium: EASO launches operation to support reception authorities’, 16 December 2021, available at: http://bit.ly/3ZSYoud.
[14] EUAA, Operational Plan 2022 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and Belgium, amendment 1, May 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3YAc0cL, annex 1.
[15] EUAA, Operational Plan 2022-2023 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and Belgium, amendment 1, November 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3Jp4FZo.
[16] EUAA, Operational Plan 2024 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and Belgium, amendment 3, December 2023, available here.
[17] EUAA, Operational Plan 2025-2026 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and Belgium, amendment 3, December 2024, available here.
[18] EUAA personnel numbers do not include deployed interpreters by the EUAA in support of asylum and reception activities.
[19] Information provided by the EUAA, 05 March 2026. In the course of 2025, 11 persons were deployed in Belgium under two different profiles. These cases are reported separately under each category.
[20] Information provided by the EUAA, 05 March 2026.
[21] Information provided by the EUAA, 05 March 2026.
[22] Information provided by the EUAA, 05 March 2026.
[23] Information provided by the EUAA, 05 March 2026.
[24] Information provided by the EUAA, 05 March 2026.