What does the asylum procedure entail?
During the asylum procedure, the Ministry of Interior/Migration Office must review your asylum application individually and impartially, verifying the correctness of the evidence and information provided, the credibility of your statements, and performing the necessary procedural acts.
Police department will withhold your travel document or another identification document and will issue a document confirming this to you. The copy of withheld documents and any documentation necessary for reviewing your application for granting asylum must be sent by the Police department to the Ministry of Interior without delay.
If you hold a temporary residence or a permanent residence on the territory of the Slovak Republic, the identification documents shall not be taken away from you and only a copy of these documents will be sent to the Ministry of Interior by the Police department.
The assessment of your application must be done by the authorized employee of the Ministry of Interior with appropriate knowledge in the area of asylum and also with appropriate knowledge of your special needs, in case you are an unaccompanied minor.
Time limits
Your asylum application must be reviewed within six months of the receipt of the application. The time limit may be extended in limited circumstances listed in the law, if:
- complex issues of fact or law are involved;
- a large number of persons simultaneously apply for international protection;
- the delay can be attributed to your failure to comply with your obligations.
In these cases, the time limit may be extended by a maximum of nine months at a time, but in any event, the application must be reviewed within 21 months of its receipt.
The Ministry of Interior shall inform you of the extension of the time limit for the decision on the application for granting asylum in writing and upon your request also about the reasons for such extension as well as of the time when the decision can be expected.
Elements of the procedure
If the Ministry of Interior deems it relevant for the assessment of your application, they may arrange a medical examination to establish signs of past persecution. The medical examination is subject to your consent. If the medical examination is suggested by you, your further consent is not required.
After the medical examination you will complete an initial interview with the employee of the Migration Office, during which you have to answer on questions related to your personal details, such as your financial situation, route of your journey, information about your family members residing in EU member states, your political and religious ideology, crimes/misdemeanors committed by you in the past, what you fear in case of return to the country of origin, or whether you have ever had any problem with state authorities. You have to speak the truth, even if some details from your previous life can be unpleasant.
Interview is an essential part of the procedure, in the course of which you are provided with an opportunity to present facts and give explanations with regard to the circumstances that motivated you to apply for international protection. The interview is recorded on an official form. The Migration Office may conduct more than one interview or send clarifying questions after the interview, when necessary.
You are required to present all the documentation regarding your reasons for applying for international protection as soon as possible, as well as about your background and other aspects relevant to your application.
It is likely that, as an asylum-seeker, you are unable to support your statements by documentary or other evidence. In this case, the main importance lies on assessing the credibility of your statements and comparing them with the available information on your country of origin. The European Court of Human Rights has confirmed that it is important to take into account all the difficulties which an asylum-seeker may encounter abroad when collecting evidence, so benefit of the doubt should be granted in favour of the person seeking international protection.
example You escaped your country due to the threat of imprisonment for being a human rights activist, and holding and spreading views that your government does not tolerate. You have no documentary evidence about the treatment you have been subjected to by the authorities, or access to the warrant for your arrest. However, your statements are plausible, coherent, in accordance with the country of origin information, and you have submitted photos that prove your participation in the activities of the human rights organisation. In this case, the Ministry of Interior should not rely on the lack of documentary evidence to reject your application.
Decision-making
If the Ministry of Interior decides to declare the application for international protection to be unfounded, then before making the decision you must be given an opportunity to provide your counterarguments, either in oral or written form. If the Ministry of Interior makes a negative decision, they have the obligation to give reasons for it in writing in a language that you can understand.