1.1. Contact organisation
Immigration Office (FR : Office des étrangers / NL : Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken / DE : Ausländeramt)
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Statistics Unit
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Boulevard Pacheco, 44 B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
18 February 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
18 February 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
18 February 2025
3.1. Data description
Enforcement of immigration legislation data (EIL statistics) contain statistical information based on Article 5 and 7 of the Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 as amended by the Regulation (EU) 2020/851 with reference to third-country nationals:
- refused entry at the external border;
- found to be illegally present;
- ordered to leave;
- returned following an order to leave.
Please find more information at the annex (Attachment to 3.1).
3.2. Classification system
See table 3.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Migration and asylum – Enforcement of Immigration Legislation statistics.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
See table 3.4. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
3.5. Statistical unit
The unit of measure is the number of persons as indicated in the specific guidelines.
3.6. Statistical population
See table 3.6. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
3.7. Reference area
Belgium
3.8. Coverage - Time
See table 3.8. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
3.9. Base period
The EIL data collection consists of annual and quarterly tables, completed by Belgian data suppliers and sent to Eurostat within 2 months for the quaterly data and within 3 months for the annual data. The first reference year of this data collection is 2008. The first reference year after the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2020/851 amending Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 on Community statistics on migration and international protection is 2021.
Number of persons.
Calendar quarter and calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
As a federal public organisation, the Immigration Office is responsible for the application of the Law of 15 December 1980 and the Royal Decree of 8 October 1981 on access to the territory, residence, settlement and removal of foreign nationals.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, formalized this by communicating the name of the Statistical Service of the Immigration Office as another producer of European statistics. By this statute of producer of European statistical data, the statistical service of the Immigration Office must therefore be considered as one of the “other Belgian statistical authorities” as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Information on the existence of a national policy for (not) releasing the EIL data before a certain time after the end of reference period has passed:
All statistical data are published within the regulatory deadlines. For Quaterly statistics, the requested statistics are provided to Eurostat within 2 months of the end of the reference period. For Yearly statistics, the requested statistics are provided to Eurostat within 3 months of the end of the reference period. No national policy prevents us from publishing statistics before this deadline. Statistics are published when their quality is considered sufficient. National statistics are published following a schedule that can be found on the national website:
- In French: Calendrier de diffusion.
- In Dutch: Publicatie kalender.
Required confidentiality by law and signed legal confidentiality commitments by survey staff:
All the officials of the Immigration Office have signed a declaration aimed at protecting the confidentiality of data.
Potential micro-data access for research purposes by external users and confidentiality provisions applied:
Access to micro-data is possible while respecting the general data protection regulation (regulation 2016/679). More information on the procedure implemented in this context can be requested from the Data Protection Officer of the Immigration Office. The contact details are available on the website of the Immigration Office:
In French:
Traitement des donnees caractere personnel.
In Dutch:
Verwerking van persoonsgegevens.
Procedures for ensuring confidentiality during collection, processing and dissemination, including rules for determining confidential cells:
All information relating to the personal data collected and their processing is available on the website of the Immigration Office. All Immigration Office's agents are trained and have signed a declaration aimed at protecting the confidentiality of data.
In French:
Traitement des donnees caractere personnel.
In Dutch:
Verwerking van persoonsgegevens.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
All information relating to the personal data collected and their processing is available on the website of the Immigration Office.
In French:
Traitement des donnees caractere personnel.
In Dutch:
Verwerking van persoonsgegevens.
8.1. Release calendar
For Quaterly statistics, the requested statistics are provided to Eurostat within 2 months of the end of the reference period. For Yearly statistics, the requested statistics are provided to Eurostat within 3 months of the end of the reference period.
8.2. Release calendar access
Information relating to the publication calendar is available on the website of the Immigration Office:
In French:
Chiffres eloignement.
In Dutch:
Chiffres verwijderingen.
8.3. Release policy - user access
EIL statistics and related information are available on / via the website of the Immigration Office (cf. 8.2).
EIL statistics are published for Y5 and Y6 each 3 months ; and for Y1,Y2,Y3,Y4 once a year. In addition, some similar data are disseminated monthly at national level.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
No systematic press releases on the topic of EIL statistics.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Annual and monthly publication on EIL statistics are foreseen from 2021 (available on: Removal statistics | IBZ) and from 2008 on the website of Eurostat.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
No Belgian online database directly accessible to the public. The statistics are available on the Eurostat website.
Limited elements are available on the Website of the Immigration Office:
In French :
- Interceptions - Statistiques-nationales.
- Decisions - Statistiques-nationales.
- Effective removals - Statistiques-nationales.
In Dutch :
Limited elements are available on the Website of Eurostat:
10.3.1. Data tables - consultations
Not applicable.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
This must be agreed upon when signing the memorandum of understanding to access the microdata.
Access to micro-data is possible while respecting the general data protection regulation (regulation 2016/679). More information on the procedure implemented in this context can be requested from the Data Protection Officer of the Immigration Office. The contact details are available on the website of the Immigration Office:
In French:
In Dutch:
10.5. Dissemination format - other
The metadata and annexes are complete and accessible online : Eurostat - Migr_eil_sims_be.
10.5.1. Metadata - consultations
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
This document gives some explanations on the methodology used to produce the EIL statistics.
There is also a methodology part at the end of each publication at national level, available on the Website of the Immigration Office:
- In French : Chiffres - eloignement.
- In Dutch : Chiffres - verwijderingen
A specific page on the national website is under construction.
The national methodology follows European technical guidelines that can be found here:
10.6.1. Metadata completeness - rate
Not applicable.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
The quality assessment is made in this document itself as well as at the end of the monthly reports that are published at national level and available on the Website of the Immigration Office:
In French :
- Interceptions - Statistiques nationales.
- Return decisions - Statistiques nationales.
- Effective removals - Statistiques-nationales.
In Dutch :
- Effective removals - Nationale statistieken.
- Return decisions - Nationale statistieken.
- Effective removals - Nationale statistieken.
A dedicated page is under construction on the Website of the Immigration Office.
11.1. Quality assurance
The principles of the Code of Practice, together with the general principles of quality management, form a common quality framework for the European Statistical System. These principles were followed when developping these specific statistics.
The Consultation Committee, where the federal government (including the Federal Public Service Home Affairs) and the governments of the Regions and Communities are represented, approved on Wednesday 31 May 2017 the Belgian Commitment on Confidence in Statistics as required by Regulation n°223/2009 on European Statistics.
The last peer review in the framework of the European Statistical System took place in 2021. Results are accessible on the following website.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
All sent topics have a good quality.
(Good quality (extensive quality) = covers all quality requirements and substantial quality checks are performed and a very good cooperation exists between institutions).
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
1. General aspects
The statistics collected under the Regulation 862/2007 are widely used in official publications and by a wide range of users at national, European and International level.
Main users of EIL statistics at national level.
The EIL statistics produced are regularly used by national administrations: academic researchers and civil society groups working on a wide range of topics including the integration of immigrants, the development and monitoring of national asylum and immigration procedures, and the projection of the future population and labour force.
The following national institutions and administration entities can be mentioned in this context:
Immigration Office, Cabinet Ministers, Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons, Federal Migration Centre, academic researchers...
Main users of EIL statistics at European and International level.
The main users of EIL statistics are Eurostat, DG Home Affairs and EUAA. NB: Frontex/FRAN and IRMA statistics are closely linked to EIL statistics at national level and currently FRONTEX data is mainly using methodologies developed for Eurostat. The statistics are used in several publications of the Commission, as well as in the preparation of regular reports, policy proposals and analysis. The statistics also provide an input to the EMN studies and reports that address specific issues of current policy importance.
2. EIL data publication at national level
Presentation of the EIL statistics published at national level.
EIL Statistics are published at a national level, on the organization’s website. Methodologies and definitions are included. Likewise, other statistics on the Enforcement of Immigration Legislation are used and published at national level using different methodologies and/or definitions (e.g.: including EU citizens, including Dublin cases...).
Differences between the data provided to Eurostat and the data published at national level (Comparability of figures).
National statistics are produced for the purpose of meeting the national needs and thus follow national definitions. European statistics, on the other hand, are produced for the purpose of meeting the needs of the European Institutions, under the supervision of Eurostat. There currently exist differences on the matters of apprehensions, returns, refusals and orders to leave.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
No survey was conducted.
However, main institutional users are being contacted on an ongoing basis in order to understand their needs. We remain accessible to other users.
12.3. Completeness
See table 12.3. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
Not applicable.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
100% accuracy for each dataset.
Accuracy issues for category Citizenship: for Third-country nationals found to be illegally present andThird-country nationals who are subject to an order to leave citizenship is the citizenship declared by the person. In some cases, it may not reflect the real citizenship of the person. The impact is difficult to estimate. By definition, it results in the overestimation of specific citizenships and the underestimation of other citizenships.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3.1. Coverage error
See table 13.3.1. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not applicable.
13.3.2. Measurement error
Due to internal sources of all data concerning:
- Border refusals;
- Illegally present;
- Return decisions.
These data are controlled weekly / monthly and result in an error amount of almost 0%.
Due to external sources for third country nationals effectively returned, the error handling is more complicated and takes more time. The error amount is unknown due to these external information (but we try to keep it as low as possible: f.e. by avoiding double counting, by comparing sources,...).
13.3.3. Non response error
Not applicable.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.4. Processing error
Annual data on return decisions are consolidated once a year. They are drawn for the first time on a temporary basis, in order to isolate the problematic data and to correct them. When the corrections are made, these statistics are drawn definitively.
However, when requesting statistics by third parties or for the pilot studies, statistics sent to Eurostat may be examined from an unusual angle or the statistics for the previous year can be compiled again.
If we find an error or a significant difference with the data transmitted to Eurostat, a correction will be made to the transmitted statistics.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
- Number of days (on average) after the end of the reference period at which the country is able to report the first/preliminary data, at the earliest : 15 days
- Reasons for possible long production of the first/preliminary data and plans to improve the situation : Absence, including for the agents of the service responsible for encoding, technical problem with databases or other technical problems.
- Number of days (on average) after the end of the reference period at which the country is able to report the final data, at the earliest : Approximately 30 days after the end of the reference period.
- Reasons for possible long production of the final data and plans to improve the situation : Correction time is required to verify and consolidate the data. If a technical problem arises with databases during the last encoding, corrections or compilation of statistics, it will be impossible to provide the corrected and consolidated data on time.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not applicable.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not applicable.
14.2. Punctuality
See table 14.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Not applicable.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Statistics are comparable between geographical areas within Belgium.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
See table 15.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
Not applicable.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
See table 15.3. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
1. Links and differences between the Non-EU citizens with order to leave and Non-EU citizens who actually left the territory.
In order to be included in the statistics on Non-EU citizens who actually left the territory the person must be previously ordered to leave. However, all persons ordered to leave are not included in return statistics, because: these persons may return voluntarily without assistance; they may remain in the territory illegally; forced returns are not systematically organized; attempts of forced returns are not systematically successful; the person may receive a residence permit after the issuance of an order to leave.
2. Links and differences between the Non-EU citizens who actually left the territory and Non-EU citizens who left the territory to a third country.
Persons who leave the territory to an EU country in the framework of an assisted voluntary return or in the framework of a transfer based on a bilateral agreement (mainly with France, The Netherlands and Germany) are excluded from the second statistics.
Not available.
17.1. Data revision - policy
When requesting statistics by third parties, statistics sent to Eurostat may be examined from an unusual angle or the statistics for the previous year can be compiled again.
If we find an error or a significant difference with the data transmitted to Eurostat, a correction will be made to the transmitted statistics.
17.2. Data revision - practice
See table 17.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Not applicable.
18.1. Source data
See table 18.1. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
- Third-country nationals refused at border are collected monthly.
- Third-country nationals found to be illegally present are collected continuously and the main results are diffused monthly.
- Third-country nationals who are subject to an order to leave are collected monthly.
- Third-country nationals effectively returned by type of return and citizenship are collected monthly.
- Third-country nationals effectively returned to a third-country by type of return and citizenship are collected monthly.
- Third-country nationals effectively returned by type of assistance received and citizenship are collected monthly.
- Third-country nationals returned to a third-country by type of agreement procedure and citizenship are not yet available.
- Third-country nationals returned to a third-country by destination country and citizenship are collected continuously and the main results are diffused monthly.
- Data for the whole year is again consolidated, checked and corrected before transmission to Eurostat.
18.3. Data collection
- Data regarding the Return decisions is registered in the Immigration Office database.
- Data regarding Apprehensions is registered in a specific databse.
- Data regarding Returns is collected by the services, and manualy corrected with the Immigration Office database.
- Data is collected continuously and is consolidated monthly (operational data). Data for the whole year is again consolidated, checked and corrected before transmission to Eurostat.
18.4. Data validation
Data is consolidated monthly (operational data). Different checks are performed at the beginning of each month, and the concerned services make the necessary corrections and adjunctions. Then, the data is consolidated and the statistics are sent to the services concerned, which can still provide their comments before the publication of the national statistics on the website of the Immigration Office.
Data for the whole year is again consolidated, checked and corrected before final consolidation and transmission to Eurostat.
We checked following steps in the validation procedure:
- Totals consistency;
- Magnitude if changes over time;
- Data integrity over each processing step;
- Exclusion of double counting;
- Consistency between Y2 and Y3 datasets;
- Consistency between“TCNs subjects to an order to leave” and “TCNs who actually left the territory”;
- Consistency between “TCNs who returned to a Third Country” and “TCNs who actually left the territory”.
We used:
- Intervals of values for outliers/errors detection;
- Visual validation (visual verification of the tables or the graph resulted);
- Special programs/software for data validation.
And we analyzed the statistics reported by other countries.
18.5. Data compilation
For Return decisions, data is collected from Evibel (the database of the Immigration Office) and the National Register, and is injected by ICT into a Data Warehouse from which the data is imported and examined in SAS. These data are then processed and any inconsistencies identified and corrected. After correction, the data are processed, validated and the results are transmitted (monthly to Frontex, quaterly and annually to Eurostat).
For the Apprehensions statistics, data is collected from a specific database. Then the data is imported and examined in SAS. These data are then processed and any inconsistencies identified and corrected. After correction, the data are processed, validated and the results are transmitted annually to Eurostat.
Data on Returns come from Fedasil, and data on Refusals come from the Refusals database of the Immigration Office. This data is then subject to manual verification.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Not applicable.
18.6. Adjustment
Not available.
18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment
No statistical technique applied.
The following classification is used for data availability at Eurostat level:
- The term "not applicable" relates to the categories of data which do not exist in national legislation/administrative procedures and therefore such statistics cannot be issued.
- The term "not available" relates to categories of data that exist in the national legal/administrative system but cannot be delivered under EIL data collection for various reasons (e.g. data cannot exist, data exist but are not collected, data are unreliable, etc.).
Enforcement of immigration legislation data (EIL statistics) contain statistical information based on Article 5 and 7 of the Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 as amended by the Regulation (EU) 2020/851 with reference to third-country nationals:
- refused entry at the external border;
- found to be illegally present;
- ordered to leave;
- returned following an order to leave.
Please find more information at the annex (Attachment to 3.1).
18 February 2025
See table 3.4. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
The unit of measure is the number of persons as indicated in the specific guidelines.
See table 3.6. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
Belgium
Calendar quarter and calendar year.
100% accuracy for each dataset.
Accuracy issues for category Citizenship: for Third-country nationals found to be illegally present andThird-country nationals who are subject to an order to leave citizenship is the citizenship declared by the person. In some cases, it may not reflect the real citizenship of the person. The impact is difficult to estimate. By definition, it results in the overestimation of specific citizenships and the underestimation of other citizenships.
Number of persons.
For Return decisions, data is collected from Evibel (the database of the Immigration Office) and the National Register, and is injected by ICT into a Data Warehouse from which the data is imported and examined in SAS. These data are then processed and any inconsistencies identified and corrected. After correction, the data are processed, validated and the results are transmitted (monthly to Frontex, quaterly and annually to Eurostat).
For the Apprehensions statistics, data is collected from a specific database. Then the data is imported and examined in SAS. These data are then processed and any inconsistencies identified and corrected. After correction, the data are processed, validated and the results are transmitted annually to Eurostat.
Data on Returns come from Fedasil, and data on Refusals come from the Refusals database of the Immigration Office. This data is then subject to manual verification.
See table 18.1. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
EIL statistics are published for Y5 and Y6 each 3 months ; and for Y1,Y2,Y3,Y4 once a year. In addition, some similar data are disseminated monthly at national level.
- Number of days (on average) after the end of the reference period at which the country is able to report the first/preliminary data, at the earliest : 15 days
- Reasons for possible long production of the first/preliminary data and plans to improve the situation : Absence, including for the agents of the service responsible for encoding, technical problem with databases or other technical problems.
- Number of days (on average) after the end of the reference period at which the country is able to report the final data, at the earliest : Approximately 30 days after the end of the reference period.
- Reasons for possible long production of the final data and plans to improve the situation : Correction time is required to verify and consolidate the data. If a technical problem arises with databases during the last encoding, corrections or compilation of statistics, it will be impossible to provide the corrected and consolidated data on time.
Statistics are comparable between geographical areas within Belgium.
See table 15.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables EIL 2024’.
