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Content of information
The Royal Decree on Immigration Office Procedure stipulates that an information brochure is to be handed to the asylum applicant when they introduce the asylum application. The brochure is to be in a language the asylum applicant can reasonably be expected to understand. It should at least contain information about the asylum procedure, the application of the Dublin III Regulation, the eligibility criteria of the Refugee Convention and of subsidiary protection status, access to legal assistance, the possibility for children to be assisted during the interview, reception accommodation, the obligation to cooperate, the existence of organisations that assist asylum applicants and migrants and the contact details of the UNHCR representative in Belgium.[1]
Information provision tools
On the day of making the asylum application at the Immigration Office, applicants receive an extensive brochure at the Immigration Office.[2] A brochure entitled ‘Asylum in Belgium’, published by the CGRS and the reception agency Fedasil, explaining the different steps in the asylum procedure, the reception structures and rights and obligations of the asylum applicants, is distributed at the dispatching desk of Fedasil, where people are designated to a reception place.[3] In the context of the reception crisis, persons who don’t receive accommodation are not automatically provided with this information. Although the Immigration Office, on the moment of registration of the asylum application, hands out flyers of the reception agency Fedasil containing information on the ways one can register on the reception waiting list and for homelessness accommodation, civil society organisations observe that persons not accessing the Fedasil reception network after their application clearly lack information on the asylum procedure and on their access to essential services and rights, such as accommodation, medical care and legal support.[4]
Leaflets on some specific topics are published on the CGRS website, such as a brochure on ‘Women, girls and Asylum in Belgium’ and a brochure explaining the asylum procedure for unaccompanied and accompanied minors.[5] The Guardianship Service has also developed a brochure on assistance to unaccompanied children, available in 35 languages[6], as well as video’s on topics such as the role of the guardian and the age assessment procedure, also available in several languages.[7] A doctoral research by the University of Ghent led to the development of a co-creative video that explains the asylum appeal procedure through the eyes of young people, and is available in 7 languages.[8]
Since 2019, a website www.fedasilinfo.be, maintained by Fedasil is available in 14 languages, some of which also include an audio version. Eight main topics are addressed: asylum and procedure, accommodation, living in Belgium, return, work, unaccompanied minors, health and learning. The website can only be reached if one connects with a Belgian IP address.
Since 2021, a website www.asyluminbelgium.be maintained by the CGRS, provides information – tailored to the needs of asylum applicants – on the asylum procedure in Belgium in nine languages. It aims to reach as many asylum applicants as possible and inform them correctly about their rights and obligations during the asylum procedure. All texts are audio-supported so that an asylum applicant who is unable or less able to read has access to all the information. The website also presents videos, through which the viewer can follow the itinerary of Zana, a refugee, who testifies about her itinerary from the beginning of her asylum application until the moment she receives a decision. This video testimony helps asylum applicants in an accessible way to visualise the different stages they will go through.
In 2024, the Immigration Office also launched a website www.asylumregistration.be, on which applicants can find practical information on the different steps of the registration process such as the security check and fingerprinting, in 16 different languages via text, audio and videos.
In September 2023, Fedasil reopened their Info Point, an information centre where applicants for international protection, migrants in transit and undocumented persons can get information about the asylum procedure, medical aid, legal advice etc.[9] In 2025, the Infopunt received 10,945 visitors, the vast majority of whom were asylum seekers in their first asylum procedure, living in a public space (street, train station…) seeking information about accommodation and access to medical care.[10]
Since 2020, Fedasil also has a mobile and multilingual team ‘Reach Out’, that actively approaches and informs migrants – whether or not they have applied for international protection – who are not staying in the Fedasil reception network. They inform them about their rights in Belgium, their reception options, social support, protection options in Belgium and possibilities of return.[11]
[1] Articles 2-3 Royal Decree on Immigration Office Procedure.
[2] See brochure in multiple languages, available here.
[3] CGRS and Fedasil, Asylum in Belgium: Information brochure for asylum applicants regarding the asylum procedure and reception provided in Belgium, available at: http://bit.ly/2kvQCpP.
[4] Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen, Startpunt Quarterly Reports 2025, available in English here.
[5] CGRS, Publications, available at: http://bit.ly/2kvQCpP.
[6] The leaflets can be consulted here.
[7] The videos can be consulted here.
[8] Ghent University, Co-creative video explains the asylum appeal procedure through the eyes of young people, 20 November 2025, available in English here.
[9] Fedasil, ‘Ouverture du Point Info à Bordet’, 29 September 2023, available in French here.
[10] Information provided by Fedasil, March 2026.
[11] Fedasil, ‘Reach Out – Informing migrants who are difficultly accessible’, available in Dutch here and in French here.