Two different refusals, two different appeal routes: residence and visa refusals go to the RvV/CCE within 30 days, while a region's refusal of the work side of a single permit has its own regional appeal.
Overview
First-instance decisions on Belgian visas and residence are made by the Immigration Office (Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken / Office des Étrangers) — or, for the employment side of a single permit, by the competent region. Refusals of visas, residence permits and removal orders are challenged before the Council for Alien Law Litigation (Raad voor Vreemdelingenbetwistingen / Conseil du contentieux des étrangers, RvV/CCE), an administrative court in Brussels. For most migration decisions the RvV exercises annulment jurisdiction only: you must file within 30 days of notification, a roll fee (rolrecht/droit de rôle) of €251 per applicant applies since 1 September 2025 unless you qualify for legal aid, and the court reviews legality — it cannot consider evidence the administration never saw. Asylum decisions get fuller review. Urgent suspension (UDN) of imminent removal must be sought within 10 days (5 for a repeat measure). After the RvV, only an administrative cassation appeal to the Council of State remains, filtered for admissibility within 8 days. Verified against rvv-cce.be, dofi.ibz.be and Agentschap Integratie en Inburgering guidance as of June 2026.
Appeal Types and Deadlines at a Glance
| Procedure | Against what | Deadline | Key feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annulment (with optional suspension) | Visa refusals, residence refusals/withdrawals, removal orders by DVZ/OE or the commune | 30 days from notification | Legality review only; no new evidence; roll fee €251 unless legal aid |
| Full-jurisdiction appeal | Asylum decisions of the CGRS (Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons) | 30 days (shorter in accelerated/detention cases) | RvV can re-decide the case itself; generally suspensive |
| Urgent suspension (UDN) | Imminent removal or refoulement | 10 days from notification (5 days for a second/subsequent measure) | Heard within days; roll fee not payable upfront |
| Administrative cassation | RvV/CCE judgments | 30 days from the judgment | Council of State; 8-day admissibility filter; points of law only; not suspensive |
| Regional administrative appeal | Refusal of the work part of a single permit / work authorisation | Per region (e.g. petition to the regional minister) | Separate from the RvV; check the competent region's 'appeal a refusal' page |
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See Paid Plans →Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to appeal a Belgian visa or residence refusal, and what does it cost?
Thirty days from notification of the decision, before the Council for Alien Law Litigation (RvV/CCE) in Brussels. If notification came by registered letter, the clock starts on the third working day after posting. The roll fee is €251 per applicant since 1 September 2025 — the Council sends a payment order after receiving your petition and you have 8 days to pay, or the case is never enrolled; applicants on second-line legal aid (pro deo) are exempt with proof. The fee is not refunded if your appeal is declared inadmissible, so have the petition checked by a lawyer before filing.
Can I submit new documents to the RvV to show the refusal was wrong?
Generally no — and this is the single most misunderstood point. In annulment proceedings the RvV only reviews whether the administration decided lawfully on the information before it at the time; new evidence is in principle inadmissible. So if your file was refused because a salary figure was too low, a document was missing or a certificate had expired, the effective remedy is usually a new, complete application with the defect fixed, not an appeal. Reserve the appeal for cases where the administration misapplied the law or ignored evidence that was in the file. Asylum appeals are different: there the RvV has full jurisdiction and can consider new elements.
I've been ordered to leave and removal looks imminent — what's the emergency procedure?
The suspension of extreme urgency (UDN — uiterst dringende noodzakelijkheid / extrême urgence). It applies against removal and refoulement measures where the ordinary suspension procedure would come too late. File within 10 days of notification of the measure — only 5 days if it is a second or subsequent removal measure — in Dutch, French or German, setting out the facts that justify the extreme urgency. The RvV hears UDN cases within days, outside normal hours if needed, and the roll fee does not have to be paid at filing. If you already filed a suspension request, you can instead ask for provisional measures to have it heard immediately.
My single permit was refused because of the salary — is the appeal to the RvV?
Probably not, or at least not only. A single permit has two halves. If the region refused the employment part — the typical outcome when the salary misses the regional threshold — the remedy is that region's own administrative appeal, usually a reasoned petition to the competent regional minister within a short deadline; Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels each publish their procedure. The RvV hears challenges to the residence side and to federal Immigration Office decisions. In practice the fastest fix for a salary shortfall is often a corrected new application: Brussels in particular rules files inadmissible when the basic monthly salary (DMFA code 1) is short by even a few euros.
Is there anything after the RvV rejects my appeal?
One route: an administrative cassation appeal to the Council of State within 30 days of the RvV judgment. It is deliberately narrow — within 8 days a filter procedure decides whether the appeal is even admissible, and most are screened out. If admitted, the Council of State examines only whether the RvV applied the law correctly; it never re-weighs the facts, and the appeal does not suspend removal. If cassation succeeds, the case returns to the RvV for a new judgment. Beyond that, the practical options are a fresh application to the administration with a stronger file, or — in removal cases raising fundamental-rights issues — proceedings before international bodies on a lawyer's advice.
Does filing an appeal let me stay in Belgium while it is decided?
Not automatically, for most cases. An ordinary annulment appeal against a visa or residence refusal has no suspensive effect — an order to leave the territory remains executable, which is why the suspension request (filed in the same petition) and, in emergencies, the UDN procedure exist. Asylum appeals before the RvV are generally suspensive during the appeal period and proceedings. Single-permit renewals have their own protection: if the renewal was filed on time and declared admissible, the commune can issue an Annex 49 as temporary proof of residence pending the decision. Ask your lawyer to confirm your exact situation — staying without cover risks an entry ban.