At a time when digital transformation and operational efficiency have become essential for modern public services, the Municipality of Schaerbeek set out to modernize the way its Foreigners’ Office managed administrative processes.

Faced with hundreds of residency applications every week, the department relied heavily on manual procedures that slowed down processing, increased administrative complexity, and limited operational efficiency. Through the implementation of an advanced automation solution powered by IRISNext, Schaerbeek successfully modernized its workflows, shortened processing times, reduced manual errors, and improved the overall experience for citizens. This project illustrates how a public administration can leverage digital technologies to optimize service delivery while strengthening efficiency and accuracy.

Located in Belgium, the Municipality of Schaerbeek is one of the most populated municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region. As a local public authority, it manages a broad range of citizen services, including the administration of files related to foreign residents. The large number of residency requests, document checks, and citizen interactions created a demanding administrative environment for the Foreigners’ Office.

To address these challenges, the municipality initiated a digital modernization program focused on automating its Foreigners’ Office operations. The objective was to replace manual and paper-driven processes with a centralized digital platform capable of streamlining workflows, reducing administrative errors, and accelerating response times for residents. Improving operational performance, strengthening data protection, and ensuring efficient communication with national immigration authorities were central goals of the initiative.

Prior to the implementation of the new solution, the Foreigners’ Office managed hundreds of cases every week. Each case contained applications, supporting documentation, and ongoing email exchanges with both citizens and the Belgian Office of Foreigners. Most of this information was processed through paper-based procedures, making document handling, tracking, and retrieval both time-consuming and inefficient.

Several operational obstacles affected daily activities. Manual document processing contributed to lengthy application cycles and slower response times. Dependence on manual data entry increased the risk of human error, creating inconsistencies and administrative delays. Finding the right information at the right moment was often difficult, preventing staff from making timely decisions. In addition, the absence of a centralized digital environment complicated data synchronization with national immigration services. The management of multilingual documents further increased the complexity of administrative processing.

From a technical perspective, the Municipality of Schaerbeek required a solution capable of integrating seamlessly with Civadis’ Saphir software, already used for administrative operations. Compliance with strict security and privacy regulations was essential to safeguard sensitive personal information. Ease of use was another important requirement to encourage adoption among administrative employees. The municipality also needed the ability to digitize documents directly at service counters in order to accelerate processing. Finally, improving communication and coordination with national immigration authorities was a key objective.

IRIS IMS was chosen to deliver a content management and process automation solution specifically adapted to the needs of the Foreigners’ Office. The project started with a comprehensive analysis of existing administrative procedures to identify bottlenecks and define a more efficient digital workflow. Deployment was completed in phases, allowing the municipality to maintain business continuity while supporting a smooth transition for staff members.

The transformation was built around IRISNext, the content services platform developed by IRIS IMS. The platform centralized document management by digitizing all foreign resident files and storing them in a secure repository that could be accessed quickly and efficiently. Workflow automation reduced the need for manual processing, helping accelerate case handling throughout the department. Through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology and AI-powered processing, multilingual documents could be automatically recognized and indexed, significantly reducing administrative effort. Integration with Civadis’ Saphir software ensured continuous synchronization of administrative records across systems. In addition, the platform fully complied with GDPR requirements and Belgian public sector regulations, providing a secure framework for managing sensitive information.