Send your message to only one e-mail address.
Contact information for applicants for international protection
For questions about your case, please always mention the CGRS case number (e.g. 12/34569) or the IO case number (= IO number) as well as your name, first name, date of birth and place of birth.
E-mail : cgra-cgvs.dispatching@ibz.be
Phone : +32 2 205 51 11 (every working day from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.)
The asylum procedure helpdesk (entrance : Rue Ernest Blerot 39, 1070 Brussels) is open to visitors without appointment, every working day :
- from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
- from 2.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m.
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 this form and send it by registered mail (or hand it over in person at the reception desk against receipt) to the CGRS and the IO.
Contact information for lawyers or trusted persons
Always mention your client’s CGRS (e.g. 12/34569) or IO (= IO number) 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.
- Application: copy of the notes of the personal interview
- Application: copies of administrative documents or access to an asylum file
- Declaration: intervention of a lawyer
- Declaration: intervention of a UNHCR staff member
- Declaration: appointment of a trusted person
- Declaration: renunciation of the application for international protection.
E-mail : cgra-cgvs.advocate@ibz.be
Phone : +32 (0)2 205 53 05 (every working day from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.)
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 (or hands it over in person at the reception desk against receipt) to the CGRS and the IO.
E-mail : cgra-cgvs.mineurs@ibz.be
Phone : +32 2 205 53 06 (every working day from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.)
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
Phone : +32 2 205 53 07 (every working day from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.)
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 51 11 (every working day from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.)
Contact information for recognized stateless persons
Use the form below for
E-mail: cgrefugees@ibz.fgov.be
Phone : +32 2 205 53 07 (every working day from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.)
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 (every working day from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.).
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 :
- from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
- from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons will be closed in 2025 on the following public holidays and bridging days :
- Wednesday 1 January 2025 (New Year's Day)
- Monday 21 April 2025 (Easter Monday)
- Thursday 1 May 2025 (Labour Day)
- Friday 2 May 2025 (Friday after Labour Day)
- Thursday 29 May 2025 (Ascension Day)
- Friday 30 May 2025 (Friday after Ascension Day)
- Monday 9 June 2025 (Whit Monday)
- Monday 21 July 2025 (Belgian National Day)
- Friday 15 August 2025 (Ascension Day)
- Monday 10 November 2025 (Monday before Armistice Day)
- Tuesday 11 November 2025 (Armistice Day)
- The CGRS is closed from 25 December (Christmas) 2025 to Thursday 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)