Select your profile and contact the appropriate service. Please always provide the requested information and send your message to only one e-mail address.
Contact information for applicants for international protection
Always mention the following details for any questions about your file:
- The CGRS file number (e.g. 12/34569) or the OV number of the Immigration Office
- Your surname and first name
- Your date of birth
- Your place of birth
Submitting documents for your application
It is essential that you submit documents confirming your identity, explaining the reasons for your departure from your country and documenting your journey to Belgium to the CGRS as soon as possible. More detailed information how to do this can be found in the explanatory note providing documents.
Much useful information can be found at www.asyluminbelgium.be, where the asylum procedure is visually explained in 9 languages.
Report an address change
If you change address during the procedure, it is important to fill out the form regarding the Change of Chosen residence. Please complete the form in full and either:
- send it by registered mail to both the CGRS and the Immigration Office, or
- or hand it over in person at the reception desk (with acknowledgment of receipt) to the CGRS and the Immigration Office.
Contact
E-mail : cgra-cgvs.dispatching@ibz.be
Phone : +32 2 205 51 11 (Available every Monday, Tuesday ant Thursday from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 13:00 to 16:00)
Opening Hours:
The asylum procedure helpdesk (entrance : Rue Ernest Blerot 39, 1070 Brussels) is open to visitors without appointment, every working day :
- Morning: 10:00 - 11:30
- Afternoon: 14:30 - 15:30
- Please arrive at least 15 minutes before closing time.
Contact information for lawyers or trusted persons
Always mention your client’s CGRS case number (e.g. 12/34569) or the Immigration Office (IO) case number as well as his/her name, first name, date of birth and place of birth.
You can contact this service for the requests and declarations listed below. Please use the appropriate forms:
Requests
- Copy of the notes of the personal interview
- Copies of administrative documents or access to an asylum file
Declarations
- Intervention of a lawyer
- Intervention of a UNHCR staff member
- Appointment of a trusted person
- Renunciation of the application for international protection.
Submitting forms:
By E-mail : cgra-cgvs.advocate@ibz.be
Or hand in the completed, dated and signed form at the Helpdesk for Lawyers, Trusted Persons and UNHCR.
Opening hours:
- Monday - Friday
- Morning: 08:30 – 11:30
- Afternoon: 13:00 – 15:30
- Please arrive at least 15 minutes before closing time.
Contact
E-mail : cgra-cgvs.advocate@ibz.be
Telephone : +32 (0)2 205 53 05 (Available every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 13:00 to 16:00).
Contact information for guardians
Guardians can contact the Minors’ Cell for questions regarding the asylum procedure of the minor aliens they are assisting.
If you change address during the procedure, it is important to fill out the form regarding the Change of chosen residence.
The guardian of an unaccompanied minor completes this form and sends it
- by registered mail to both the CGRS and the Immigration Office, or
- hand it over in person at the reception desk (with acknowledgment of receipt) to the CGRS and the Immigration Office.
Opening hours:
- Monday - Friday
- Morning: 08:30 – 11:30
- Afternoon: 13:00 – 15:30
- Please arrive at least 15 minutes before closing time.
Contact
E-mail : cgra-cgvs.mineurs@ibz.be
Phone : +32 2 205 53 06 (Available every working day from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 13:00 to 16:00)
Contact information for recognized refugees
In this brochure you will find much information about your rights and duties when you are recognized as a refugee in Belgium..
Use the forms below for
- application for a refugee certificate;
- application: recognition of (a) minor child(ren) as a refugee.
Always enclose a copy/scan of the identity card.
E-mail : cgrefugees@ibz.fgov.be
By phone
Please have the following information ready when you call:
- the national register number,
- name and first name,
- and date of birth of the person you are calling for.
This will help us assist you quickly and efficiently.
Phone : +32 2 205 53 07 (Available every working day from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 13:00 to 16:00)
If, as a recognized refugee, you want to recover original documents from your file or if you want to renounce your status, you should come to the CGRS. This is only possible by appointment.
Contact information for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection
In this brochure you will find much information about your rights and duties when you enjoy subsidiary protection in Belgium.
The CGRS can grant civil status documents for recognized refugees and stateless persons, but not for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection.
The beneficiary of subsidiary protection can request a birth certificate from the embassy of his country of origin in Belgium. If this is not possible, the beneficiary of subsidiary protection can apply to the justice of the peace court of his place of residence to obtain an affidavit of kinship. This document can replace the birth certificate for some procedures.
Justices Of The Peace in Belgium
E-mail: cgra-cgvs.sub-protection@ibz.be
Phone : +32 2 205 53 07 (Available every working day from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 13:00 to 16:00)
Contact information for recognized stateless persons
Use the form below for
E-mail: cgrefugees@ibz.fgov.be
Phone : +32 2 205 53 07 (Available every working day from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 13:00 to 16:00)
Visits by appointment only.
Contact information for interpreters
E-mail : cgra-cgvs.interpretations@ibz.be
Would you like to work for the CGRS as an interpreter-translator? Please visit our page jobs for more information on vacancies, job content, profile and status as an interpreter-translator.
Contact information for the press
E-mail : olivier.brasseur@ibz.be
Phone : +32 2 205 55 43
Contact information for other questions
Contact for questions that do not fit into the above-mentioned categories.
E-mail : cgra-cgvs.information@ibz.be
Phone : +32 2 205 51 11 (Available every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 13:00 to 16:00).
What does the CGRS not do?
The CGRS is only authorized to assess and decide on applications for international protection. Discover under ‘What does the CGRS not do’ for which questions you should contact other authorities.
Overview of opening hours and closing days
The asylum procedure help desk (entrance: Rue Ernest Blerot 39, 1070 Brussels) is open to visitors without appointment, every working day :
- Morning: 10:00 - 11:30
- Afternoon: 14:30 - 15:30
- Please arrive at least 15 minutes before closing time.
Closing days
The Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons will be closed in 2026 on the following days :
- Friday afternoon 16 January 2026
- Monday 6 April 2026 (Easter Monday)
- Friday 1 May 2026 (Labour Day)
- Thursday 14 May 2026 (Ascension Day)
- Friday 15 May 2026 (Bridge Day)
- Monday 25 May 2026 (Whit Monday)
- Monday 20 July 2026 (Bridge Day)
- Thursday 21 July 2026 (Belgian National Day)
- Monday 2 November 2026 (All Souls’ Day)
- Wednesday 11 november 2026 (Armistice Day)
- from Friday 25 December 2026 (Christmas) 2025 to Friday 1 January 2026 (New Year’s Day)
Location and access
Entrance
‘Brussels-Midi/Zuid’ train station, as well as metro, bus and tram stops are situated directly across our building.
Access map
View the location and accessibility of our building via Google maps.
Click here for a map of the area (Pdf)