Refugee or stateless person: getting a birth certificate
Do not order a translation of a document your status prevents you from obtaining. First check whether the CGRS Helpdesk can issue an appropriate Belgian certificate.
Overview
What this guide helps you sort out
Do not order a translation of a document your status prevents you from obtaining. First check whether the CGRS Helpdesk can issue an appropriate Belgian certificate.
Steps
4
Documents
4
Official sources
3
When the CGRS may issue a birth certificate
A recognised refugee who cannot obtain a birth record from the country of birth may request a certificate from the Helpdesk. The request is assessed according to status and available file information.
Documents for a recognised stateless person
The CGRS states that a stateless person recognised by the family court may request birth, marriage, widowhood or divorce certificates and a civil-status declaration. These documents are issued free of charge.
When a sworn translation is still useful
If an existing foreign record must be shown to the CGRS or another authority, its language may require a sworn translation. But do not translate a replacement document by reflex before knowing which version the authority will issue or accept.
Documents to prepare
- Decision or proof of status
- Belgian residence permit
- Exact certificate requested
- Current CGRS form
Steps to follow
Identify the status
Distinguish recognised refugee, recognised stateless person and subsidiary protection: the routes are not interchangeable.
Choose the certificate
Identify the birth, marriage, divorce or other civil-status certificate actually required.
Use the official form
Complete the Helpdesk request and attach the required residence-permit copy.
Confirm the final use
Ask the municipality or receiving authority whether translation or another formality is still required.
Good to know
Refugees and stateless persons: a possible route
The CGRS lists birth, marriage, divorce and widowhood certificates and civil-status declarations it may issue depending on status and circumstances.
Subsidiary protection: a different route
The CGRS states that beneficiaries of subsidiary protection do not use this Helpdesk in the same way. They must check the route specific to their status.
Internal routes
Jump straight to the next useful page
Not every internal link deserves oxygen. These are the document, language, city and cluster pages that genuinely extend this file.
Full cluster
Apostille, legalisation and foreign documents
The right order for authentication, eLegalisation and sworn translation, including for refugees, stateless persons and companies.
Related documents
Common translations
Budget
Frame your request in 30 seconds
Choose the volume and deadline. The translator prices the actual document afterwards; there is no made-up automatic quote here.
Deadline surcharge
No surcharge
The translation price is set only after the professional has read the document.
Frequently asked questions
+−Can the CGRS replace an unavailable birth record?
+−Are CGRS certificates charged?
+−Can a person under subsidiary protection use the same Helpdesk?
+−Must the CGRS certificate be translated?
Guides
Stay inside the same case family
This guide belongs to a stronger cluster. If this page touches your file, these usually do too. Apostille, legalisation and foreign documents.
Recognised refugee: legalisation exemption in Belgium
The CGRS can confirm a legalisation exemption for certain civil-status documents of a recognised refugee. Documents, sworn translation and limits.
Read the guideSubsidiary protection and civil-status documents
The CGRS does not issue the same documents to subsidiary-protection beneficiaries as to recognised refugees. Check the correct route.
Read the guideForeign document: apostille or translation in Belgium
Check the right order for a foreign document in Belgium: possible exemption, apostille or legalisation, then the sworn translation requested by the authority.
Read the guideForeign document refused by a municipality in Belgium
What to do when a Belgian municipality refuses a foreign document: identify the real blockage, fix the right record, restore the sequence and use translation at the right moment.
Read the guideGuides
Next files that usually travel together
Same records, same languages or the same administrative friction. These are the logical next clicks, not random filler.
Residence permit for a renewal in Belgium
How to make a residence permit readable for a renewal in Belgium: actual status, useful dates, decisive annotations and sworn translation if needed.
Read the guideEnglish to French birth certificate translation in Belgium
Translate an English birth certificate into French for Belgium: full version, marginal annotations, stable identity and useful sworn translation.
Read the guideMoroccan birth certificate for family reunification in Belgium
How to prepare a Moroccan birth certificate for family reunification in Belgium: the right copy, readable parentage, useful legalisation and sworn translation without silly mistakes.
Read the guideAlgerian birth certificate for family reunification in Belgium
How to prepare an Algerian birth certificate for family reunification in Belgium: useful parentage, the right version, legalisation if needed and a clean sworn translation.
Read the guideMoroccan marriage certificate for a spouse file in Belgium
How to prepare a Moroccan marriage certificate for a spouse file in Belgium: a readable marital bond, records to align, useful legalisation and a well-targeted sworn translation.
Read the guideMarriage certificate for the Immigration Office in Belgium
How to prepare a marriage certificate for the Immigration Office: the right use of the record, coherent civil status, useful legalisation and a sworn translation of the passages that truly matter.
Read the guideOfficial source
Official sources used
The references below are the public sources used to document this page. The competent authority always retains the final decision.
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