Author
The Immigration Office and the CGRS are required to assess whether an applicant for international protection has special procedural needs and to take these into account by providing appropriate support throughout the procedure, insofar as such needs have been sufficiently substantiated and where the applicant’s rights would otherwise be adversely affected or where the applicant would be unable to comply with the obligations imposed on them.[1] Such special procedural safeguards may, broadly speaking, relate to:
- the planning of the personal interview (e.g. the prioritisation or postponement of the personal interview due to pregnancy, post‑operative recovery or severe psychological fragility);
- the circumstances and setting in which the personal interview is conducted (e.g. handling of the case by specialised protection officers, presence of a person of trust, or the provision of a sign‑language interpreter for hearing‑impaired applicants);
- time limits for processing the application and taking a decision (e.g. granting additional time to collect relevant elements in support of the application where individual and personal vulnerabilities may affect the applicant’s ability to participate fully and effectively in the procedure);
- the type of procedure applied (e.g. the discontinuation of an accelerated or border procedure due to special procedural needs, in particular where these arise from torture, rape or other serious forms of psychological, physical or sexual violence that are incompatible with shortened processing time limits or with a situation of detention);
- the administrative processing of the application (e.g. the separation of the application from that of a partner or an accompanied minor due to intra‑familial violence or individual asylum grounds, and in light of the best interests of the child);
- the assessment of the need for international protection (including, for example, the sharing of the burden of proof in accordance with the individual situation and personal circumstances of the applicant).
With the exception of certain categories of applicants, such as minors—who automatically benefit from standard procedural safeguards—the need for special procedural guarantees is assessed on a case-by-case basis. This assessment primarily relies on indications relating to the applicant’s personal situation and circumstances. Relevant information is drawn from the administrative file, the questionnaire on specific procedural needs, and any additional elements or documents submitted by the applicant or other actors involved in the procedure, such as lawyers, guardians, or social assistants. The determination of whether special procedural guarantees apply rests with the Immigration Office and the CGRS, and this decision is not subject to appeal.[2]
Applicants are informed at the outset of the asylum procedure of the possibility to indicate specific procedural needs and are asked to complete a questionnaire identifying elements that should be taken into account to enable them to present their case under appropriate conditions.[3] In addition, a doctor appointed by the Immigration Office can recommend procedural needs based on a medical examination, although such examinations are not mandatory and no statistical data is available regarding their use in practice. [4]
The assessment of procedural needs is conceived as an ongoing process. While identification is intended to occur as early as possible, applicants and those supporting them may raise such needs at any stage of the procedure. At the CGRS level, evaluations typically take place at three key moments: upon transfer of the file, during the personal interview, and at the decision-making stage. These assessments may occur within varying timeframes.[5]
If special procedural needs were not identified at the beginning of the procedure, the applicant may still submit a written note to the CGRS outlining the relevant elements. However, this does not oblige the CGRS to reopen or restart the examination of the application.[6] Applicants may further support their claims by submitting medical or psychological reports attesting to their needs, often related to trauma.
Reception centres also play a role in identifying potential needs by assessing applicants and proactively looking for signs of vulnerability. Where such needs are identified, and with the applicant’s consent, the centres may make recommendations to the Immigration Office and/or the CGRS.[7]
Certain applicants – especially extremely vulnerable persons – are not capable of communicating their needs correctly; some are even not capable of identifying these needs for themselves. Many do not know how the procedure will continue, what questions will be asked, and what needs may arise. It is, therefore, crucial that adequate measures are adopted from the outset to prepare, guide and provide information to all applicants, including those who – at first sight – do not seem to have any special needs or do not indicate to have any.
Adequate support during the interview
Specific procedural needs that have been observed in practice include the need to conduct the interview in rooms at ground level in cases where the applicant has a physical disability,[8] to organise several breaks during the interview, to postpone the interview after the birth of a child, the request to be assisted by an interpreter of a certain gender or the provision of a sign‑language interpreter for hearing‑impaired applicants etc. Overall, when specific procedural needs are identified, the measures mainly consist of hearing the person concerned in an appropriate manner and providing them with the opportunity to take a break at any time during the interview. The assistance of an interpreter during a personal interview has also been described in some decisions as a special procedural need. In practice, however, this is not the case since one is entitled to an interpreter during every asylum procedure described in Article 51/4 of the Aliens Act.
The above examples demonstrate that the CGRS makes efforts to meet specific special procedural needs. However, certain limits have been noted in practice. As an example, in the case of a minor who had reached the age of 18 during the asylum procedure, special assistance was no longer attributed to him.[9] In a judgment of 22 October 2020, the CALL annulled a decision of the CGRS in a case concerning a woman with serious psychological problems. Based on the psychological reports provided by the applicant and mentioning, inter alia, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, the CGRS had decided she had particular procedural needs. During the personal interview, the woman frequently said she felt unwell and wanted a break. Each time, a break was allowed. However, the interview lasted 6 hours, whereas the internal charter of the CGRS prescribes a personal interview of 4 hours, in exceptional cases, to be prolonged with a maximum of 30 minutes. The CALL judged that given the psychological vulnerability of the woman, a personal interview of 6 hours was inadequate to assess the credibility of her story correctly.[10] In a 2019 case, references to anxiety attacks, psychological issues, and physical injuries in medical documents were deemed insufficient by the Immigration Office to establish that the applicant was unfit for interview. The CGRS similarly found no specific needs during the interview and considered the medical evidence outdated, a position later upheld by the CALL.[11] Recently, the CALL confirmed that, despite evidence of serious psychological problems and an aborted interview, the authorities could lawfully terminate the procedure where the applicant failed to submit written statements within the prescribed time limit, as the medical documents did not demonstrate an inability to do so.[12]
The law on guardianship of unaccompanied minors contains general provisions on the protection of unaccompanied minors and on the role of the guardian. Based on this law, the Guardianship Unit of the Federal Public Service of Justice has established a hotline that operates 24/7 to notify the detection of unaccompanied children so that the necessary arrangements can be made.[13] For unaccompanied minors, the specific procedural needs mainly consist of a guardian’s assistance, an interview conducted by a protection officer trained in child protection and the fact that the CGRS considers the age and level of maturity when evaluating the applicant’s declarations.[14]
Since 2018, the CALL is taking steps towards a more child-friendly justice. In a judgment of June 2018, the CALL tried to make the decision as understandable as possible by adapting the language of the judgement to the 13-year-old concerned Iraqi boy who had made his own request for international protection.[15] The language of the judgment was adjusted to such an extent that the minor could, even without the assistance of an adult, understand the reasoning of the judgment. In 2024, in collaboration with a doctoral research at the University of Ghent, the CALL started a pilot project with a court room specifically designed for unaccompanied minors, with adapted furnishings and which offers more privacy. The lawyer of the minor and the representative of the CGRS plead while being seated. The pilot was running from December 2024 until May 2025, and the use of the adapted court room has been continued afterwards. In the context of the same doctoral research, a co-creative video was also developed that explains the asylum appeal procedure through the eyes of young people, and is available in 7 languages.[16] Also, since December 2024, unaccompanied minors receive an adapted convocation for the court hearing at the CALL. The language in the letter is adapted to minors, explains what happens on the day of the hearing and informs the minor that apart from their lawyer and guardian they can bring a person of trust.[17]
In gender-related asylum claims, the official of the Immigration Office must check if the asylum applicant opposes being assigned a protection officer of the other sex.[18]
Exemption from special procedures
If the CGRS decides that the applicant has special procedural needs, in particular in the case of torture, rape or other serious forms of violence, which are incompatible with the accelerated or border procedures, it can decide not to apply those procedures.[19]
Although unaccompanied children are not detained, they are not exempted from the accelerated procedure in the law. However, the accelerated procedure is not applied to unaccompanied children.[20]
[1] Article 48/9, § 4 Aliens Act.
[2] Article 48/9(4) Aliens Act.
[3] Article 48/9(1) Aliens Act; Immigration Office, ‘Information brochure – International protection in Belgium’, available in English here, p. 16.
[4] Article 48/9(2) Aliens Act.
[5] Myria, Contact meeting, 18 April 2018, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/2sIMaXC, para. 56; information confirmed by the CGRS in December 2022.
[6] Article 48/9(3) Aliens Act.
[7] Article 22(1/1) Aliens Act.
[8] CALL, Decision No 214.454, 20 December 2018; CALL Decision No 215.972, 30 January 2019; CALL, Decision No 213 350, 30 November 2018.
[9] CALL, Decision No 217807, 28 February 2019.
[10] CALL, Decision No 242762, 22 October 2020.
[11] CALL, Decision No 217.807, 28 February 2019.
[12] CALL, Decision No 337 985, 17 December 2025, available in Dutch here.
[13] Program Law (I) (art. 479), 24 December 2002 – Title XIII – Chapter VI: Guardianship of unaccompanied minors.
[14] CALL, Decision No 216062, 30 January 2019; CALL, Decision No 215.418, 21 January 2019; CALL, Decision No 214735, 7 January 2019; CALL, Decision No 228246, 30 October 2019.
[15] CALL, 28 June 2018, No 206213, https://bit.ly/2sUvOvj. In its communication on the official website, the CALL makes specific reference to the guidelines for a child-friendly justice: https://bit.ly/2CO2oDh.
[16] Ghent University, Co-creative video explains the asylum appeal procedure through the eyes of young people, 20 November 2025, available in English here.
[17] CALL, ‘Adapted convocation letters and a court room tailormade for minors’, 2 December 2024, available in Dutch here and in French here.
[18] Article 8 Royal Decree on Immigration Office Procedure.
[19] Article 48/9(5) Aliens Act.
[20] Myria, Contact meeting, 16 January 2019, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/2HeyRXu, para 290.