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Duration of pre-removal detention and short-term detention
The maximum immigration detention period is 18 months, including extensions. Initial detention order is in principle issued for a period of 6 months. Following an amendment to the LARB in 2017, extensions can be now ordered by the Immigration Police instead of the court after the expiry of the initial or consecutive detention order.[1] Each consecutive extension is also issued for a minimum of 6 months until the 18-month limit is reached.
Short-term detention can be ordered for a maximum of 30 days.[2]
The LAR safeguards the registration of asylum applications and the release of the asylum applicants from pre-removal detention centres within 6 working days, in line with the recast Asylum Procedures Directive.[3] As a result, in 2016 the overall detention duration of first-time asylum applicants prior to their registration decreased to 9 days on average, thereby observing the abovementioned registration deadline. In 2017 this practice was reverted as the average duration of detention rose to 19 days. After the Supreme Administrative Court acknowledged the illegality of pre-removal detention after the submission of an asylum application,[4] the average detention duration decreased back to 9 days in 2018 to increase again to 12 days in 2019 and decreased in 2020 to 8 calendar days and 7 calendar days in 20221 on average. In 2022 the average detention duration continued to decrease to 6 calendar days.
| Average period of pre-removal detention pending registration (days) | ||||||||
| Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Average detention period | 10 | 9 | 19 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
Source: SAR, MOI, Bulgarian Helsinki Committee.
Out of the 8,592 persons applying from pre-removal detention, no asylum seekers (0%) were detained for more than 6 months.
The average duration of detention of wrongly detained unaccompanied children decreased to 8 days in 2022. It should be noted, however, that 14-days of medical quarantine are excluded from the detention duration.
Duration of asylum detention
Detention during the status determination procedure in closed reception facilities is limited by the law to the shortest period possible.[5] However, in practice the SAR kept asylum seekers in closed centres until the decision on their asylum applications became final, which for some of the detained asylum seekers extended to 6-7 months, and nearly 11 months in one case in 2018. The regular review of necessity as per the law is so far applied formally,[6] resulting in detained asylum seekers being released only following the engagement of legal assistance and representation.[7]
The average asylum detention duration in 2022 continued to decrease to 56 days on average in comparison to 86 days in 2021, and 91 days in 2020, although it remains far from the legal standard set in the law according to which detention should last for the “shortest period possible”. It has to be noted that this duration used to be quite extensive (252 days in 2019 and 192 days in 2018).
[1] Article 46a(3) and (4) LARB, repealed by Law amending the LARB, State Gazette No 97, 5 December 2017.
[2] Article 44(13) LARB.
[3] Article 58(4) LAR.
[4] Supreme Administrative Court, Decision No 77, 4 January 2018, available in Bulgarian at: http://bit.ly/2rTKmO4. The Court refers to CJEU, Case C-537/11 M.A.
[5] Article 45e LAR.
[6] Article 45d (2) LAR.
[7] Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, Monthly Situation Report: December 2017, 10 January 2018.