When an application for international protection is lodged, the applicant has 8 working days to attend (with their annex 26/26quinquies) the municipal administration of their main residence.
In case of a first application for international protection:
An annex 26 is issued to the applicant by the Immigration Office.
The municipality is authorised to issue a certificate of registration, without prior instruction from the Immigration Office, valid for 4 months from the date of the lodging of the application for international protection. The certificate will be extended every 8 months, unless the Immigration Office advises otherwise.
The annex 26 is not subject to any validity period.
In case of a subsequent application for international protection:
An annex 26quinquies is issued to the applicant by the Immigration Office.
The annex 26quinquies is subject to a period of validity and will be extended until the CGRS issues a decision:
- If admissible, the annex 26quinquies will no longer be extended. The municipality is authorised to issue a certificate of registration, without prior instruction from the Immigration Office, valid for 4 months from the issue date. The certificate will be extended every 8 months until a final decision is made.
- If inadmissible, the applicant is not entitled to a registration certificate. The annex 26quinquies will only be extended if an appeal to the CALL is submitted and the appeal has a suspensive effect. It should be noted that from a second subsequent application, the appeal to the CALL does not, in principle, have a suspensive effect and an order to leave the territory can be issued immediately after the CGRS' decision of inadmissibility.
After the CGRS or the CALL grants refugee status, the person concerned receives a refugee certificate. The person concerned must then apply to the municipality of their main residence to amend the national register on the basis of this certificate and issue them with an A card (limited stay) valid for 5 years.
After a period of 5 years from the lodging of the application for international protection which gave rise to the granting of refugee status, the recognised refugee is in principle admitted to stay for an unlimited period. For this purpose, an application for a B card (unlimited stay) must be submitted to the municipality of the main residence. The issuance of a B card always requires prior instruction from the Immigration Office.
If the CGRS or the CALL grants subsidiary protection status, the person concerned must present the decision of the CGRS or the CALL to the Immigration Service of the municipality of their main residence. The municipality will then issue an A card (limited stay) upon presentation of this decision. This card, valid for one year, can be extended twice by the municipality for two years each time, without prior instruction from the IO. The application to extend the A card must be submitted to the municipality of the main residence 30 to 45 days before the end of the validity period of the card.
After a period of 5 years from the lodging of the application for international protection which gave rise to the granting of subsidiary protection status, the beneficiary of this status is, in principle, admitted to stay for an unlimited period. For this purpose, an application for a B card (unlimited stay) must be submitted to the municipality of the main residence. The issuance of a B card always requires prior instruction from the Immigration Office.
If the application for international protection is rejected, the Immigration Office will in principle issue an order to leave the territory (annex 13 or 13quinquies) and the municipality will withdraw the certificate of registration.
The order to leave the territory (OLT) can be issued after the deadline to appeal against the CGRS' decision has expired, if no appeal has been lodged, or after the CALL has closed the appeal with a negative decision. As of the second subsequent application (3rd application) and provided that only a non-suspensive appeal can be lodged against the CGRS' decision, the OLT can be issued immediately after the CGRS' decision of inadmissibility.
The OLT means that the person concerned must leave the territory voluntarily within a certain period of time, which is in principle 30 days, but this period may be waived for certain reasons.
When the applicant has already been subject to an OLT that has not yet been acted upon, the IO may decide not to issue a new OLT but to "reactivate" the previous OLT. If necessary, an additional period of time to leave the country voluntarily may be granted.
The OLT or its reactivation is notified directly to the elected domicile.
Administration Unit: asiel.administratie [at] ibz.fgov.be ()
International Protection Monitoring Unit: internationalprotectionfollowup [at] ibz.fgov.be ()