The current Belgian government, in office since October 2020, announced that it would replace the Immigration Act by a new Migration Code. In this context, EMN Belgium sought information about the structure of national migration laws of other Member States and the terminology used for migration policies, subjects and institutions, the result of which was compiled and summarized. 

Due to the numerous amendments to the Aliens Act, the development of a Migration Code has appeared necessary. In this context, a Commission of Independent Experts was established to provide guidance for the drafting of a new Code. Its final report, now publicly available, presents, among other elements, the Commission’s working methodology, key guidelines for codification, a proposed structure for the Code, and its discussions on draft texts.

Today the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, in the presence of all relevant asylum and immigration services, presented the new migration code. This new code aims to clarify procedures, simplify the texts and better fight against abuse.