Author
Individuals recognised as refugees are granted a three-year residence permit (“ADET”), which can be renewed after a decision of the Head of the Regional Asylum Office.[1] However, beneficiaries of subsidiary protection do not have the right to receive a three-year permit; instead, they obtain a one-year residence permit, which is renewable for a period of two years.[2]
Residence permits are usually delivered at least two to three months after the communication of the positive decision granting international protection and the submission of the required documents. As per art. 6(1) of JMD 513542/2022 (Gazette B’ 4763) these are a) an ID photo and a b) a valid asylum seeker card, yet in GCR’s experience, in practice, beneficiaries need to submit a positive decision granting international protection, ID decision and photos and copy of the asylum seeker’s card to the Aliens Police Directorate (‘Διεύθυνση Αλλοδαπών’) or the competent passport office.
The Asylum Service does not notify the beneficiaries individually, through e-mail or any other means of communication, of the issuance of their residence permit.[3] Rather, the Asylum Service uploads lists of case numbers of the beneficiaries of international protection on the website of Ministry of Migration and Asylum for whom ADET are ready for collection. In such lists, specific dates are set for the collection of ADET.[4] Therefore, beneficiaries have to regularly consult the daily lists online until they find an entry corresponding to their individual case number.[5]
On 12 September 2022, a Joint Ministerial Decision was issued providing clarifications on the Procedure for granting a Residence Permit to beneficiaries of international protection.[6] According to Article 5(1) of the aforementioned JMD, the Regional Asylum Office (RAO) or Autonomous Asylum Unit (AAU) issuing the ADET Decision must have the same territorial competence as the Passport Office of the Hellenic Police, which will subsequently carry out the issuance of the ADET. Otherwise, the Hellenic Police does not accept the application. In such a case, beneficiaries of international protection have to apply again to a territorially competent RAO or AAU to receive an official copy of their asylum decision and ADET Decision, stamped by that office. For instance, the Aliens Unit of Attica (Τμήμα Αλλοδαπών Αττικής, TAA) is territorially competent for cases handled by the RAO and AAU of Attica.[7]
It is worth mentioning that until the issuance of the residence permits, beneficiaries keep their asylum seeker card and are considered asylum applicants by ERGANI (ΕΡΓΑΝΗ), the Information System of the Ministry of Employment.[8] In practice, this means that, without a valid residence permit, beneficiaries of international protection are unable to access the labour market.[9] A positive amendment of article 57(1) Asylum Code in late December 2023, which reduces the period during which asylum applicants do not have a right to work from six to two months following the lodging of their application,[10] might provide a partial and indirect solution for beneficiaries still holding an applicant’s card after at least two months following the lodging of their application, by allowing them access the labour market even if still considered applicants by ERGANI, albeit not to self-employment. Nevertheless, even if this ends up being the case, and notwithstanding the fact that beneficiaries’ access to their rights cannot be dependent on indirect or partial solutions, this will still not apply to those granted international protection before the completion of 60 days from the lodging of their application, whom without a valid residence permit (ADET), will still be unable to enjoy access to the labour market.
Moreover, after delivery of the residence permit (A.Δ.E.T), the Asylum Service notifies the Electronic Governance of Social Security S.A. (ΗΔΙΚΑ Α.Ε.) to deactivate the Provisional Foreigner’s Insurance and Health Care Number for asylum seekers (ΠΑΑΥΠΑ). Along with the delivery of residence permit, the Asylum Service is obliged to inform the beneficiaries of international protection that they are henceforth eligible to acquire a social security number (AMKA) and that they must take the legally required steps for its issuance within one (1) month.[11] In practice, due to the delay of the electronic system of ΗΔΙΚΑ, beneficiaries of international protection have no access to health care for many months.
An application for renewal should be submitted no later than 30 calendar days before the expiry of the residence permit. The mere delay in an application for renewal, without any justification/reason, cannot lead to its rejection.[12] A recent circular of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum[13] specifies that “reasons” should be interpreted as follows: “the mere submission of any reason for negligence on the part of the beneficiary in submitting the application in time shall not suffice. Reasons shall be given which in fact justify exceeding of the deadline set by law on the basis of objective criteria or events, without mandatory written evidence. The reasons invoked by the applicant shall be accepted where they are in line with the conduct of the ordinary reasonable person”.[14]
However, in case of delay in the submission of an application for renewal without due reasons, a fine of EUR100 is imposed. The authority responsible for the procedure of imposing the fine shall be determined by a joint decision of the Ministers of Immigration, Asylum and Finance.[15] In practice, this fine has never been imposed.
Since 2017, the application for renewal, together with a digital photo of the beneficiary, is submitted via email to the Asylum Service and the latter’s decision is notified to the applicant also via email. Accordingly, bearing in mind that legal aid is not provided at this stage, technologically illiterate beneficiaries of international protection face obvious obstacles to apply for the renewal of their permit.
GCR is aware that long waiting periods are observed in a number of renewal cases. In practice, these often last more than a year, as noted by the Greek Ombudsman.[16] According to GCR knowledge, these delays are due to the high number of applications and the fact that the Asylum Unit of International Protection Beneficiaries (Αυτοτελές Κλιμάκιο Ασύλου Δικαιούχων Διεθνούς Προστασίας) is extremely understaffed, as mentioned in the letter of Director of the Asylum Service of 16 February 2024 (prot. no. 58515) in response to the intervention by 16 Non – Governmental Organisations of the national Legal Aid Working Group.[17] Specifically, according to the aforementioned letter, only 8 employees are in charge of processing all the renewals’ applications and the issuance of renewals’ decisions in Greece.[18]
During the renewal procedure, the Asylum Service process criminal record checks on the beneficiaries of international protection, which may lead to the withdrawal of their protection status.
Pending the issuance of a new residence permit, beneficiaries of international protection are provided with a certificate of application (βεβαίωση κατάστασης αιτήματος) which is valid for six months. This certificate is providing the beneficiaries with less rights (e.g., no access to the labour market, social welfare or to public healthcare, with the exception of emergencies) than the certificate of art. 8 L.4251/2014 issued for migrants. In fact, beneficiaries of international protection holding these certificates are only protected from detention and have access to no rights at all pending their residence permit renewals. For the issuance of this certificate, the renewal application must have been uploaded to the electronic system of “ALKYONI” (ΑΛΚΥΟΝΗ). According to GCR’s observations, the Asylum Unit for Beneficiaries of International Protection uploads the application up to a month after the initial submission of the renewal application. Besides, recent interventions from the Ombudsman in January 2023 express “concerns regarding the practice of recording and uploading the application at a different point than the time of submission – after several months in certain cases”, bearing in mind that according to Article 12 of the Code of Administrative Procedure (L. 2690/1999) requires recording any document received by a public authority on the same day. The Ombudsman has recalled this obligation to the Asylum Service in the specific context of ADET renewal applications[19]. The administration has given assurances to the Ombudsman on immediate uploading of ADET renewal applications on the “Alkyoni” database.[20] However, according to the letter of the Director of the Asylum Service, it is explicitly stated that the applications are given protocol number within 5 days from the submission of the renewal application via e-mail.[21]
In practice, beneficiaries whose residence permit has expired and who hold the certificate of application (βεβαίωση κατάστασης αιτήματος),[22] while awaiting the renewal of their residence permit face obstacles in accessing services such as social welfare, healthcare and the labour market. According to the latest JMD Φ80320/109864/14.12.2023, the Social Security Number (AMKA) is deactivated a day after the residence permit expires.[23] However, upon submission of the certificate of application along with the rest of the required documents prescribed in the JMD, AMKA can be re-activated.[24] As far as GCR is aware, public services, such as the Public Employment Service (Δημόσια Υπηρεσία Απασχόλησης/ΔΥΠΑ, formerly OAED), are reluctant to accept this certificate of application, since the certificates do not constitute a document with security features (possibility of verification of the holder’s identity), in particular due to the lack of a photograph of the holder of the beneficiary of international protection. It is stressed that a photograph of the beneficiaries is, however, available in the Asylum Service’s files and could be obtained for this purpose either from the attached file of the electronically submitted application for renewal or from the administrative file kept by the Asylum Service, which includes a “facial image”. However, this procedure has not been implemented to date. In response to the aforementioned intervention, the Director of the Asylum Service, explicitly mentions in the letter dated 16.02.2024 that the relevant legislation will be amended so that the application for the renewal of ADET will be submitted via a specific electronic platform with an initial and subsequent electronic issuance of a certificate of pending renewal. The adoption of a relevant legislative and regulatory framework is pending. This legal framework will definine specific requirements for the certificate, with the possibility of verification of the validity of the data and the authenticity of the document, in line with the standards of the Code of Immigration. Such certificates will also include provision for their general acceptance by third parties.
That being said, in April 2023, there was a positive legal amendment of Greece’s Migration Code (L. 5038/2023). Article 9 (ι), in conjunction with art. 10 (8, β) and article 11(10) therein might bring a resolution to the accessibility gap/barrier created for beneficiaries each time an ADET is pending issuance and/or renewal, given that said provision seem to be addressing the limitations of the aforementioned attestation (e.g., photo, watermark). However, these provisions will be entering into force from 31 March 2024 and onwards, and therefore close monitoring is needed to ensure they also lead, in practice, to the envisioned results.
It is worth noting that beneficiaries are never served their official renewal decision. They are simply notified via email by the Asylum Service that the renewal of their residence permit has been accepted. This notice also outlines the procedure that they ought to follow to submit the required documentation before the competent Alien’s Directorate for the issuance of their renewed residence permit. In practice, after the notification email is sent, the beneficiaries should follow the exact same procedure they followed for the initial issuance of their residence permit. For the deliverance of their renewed residence permits, the Asylum Service does not notify the beneficiaries individually. It uploads on its website a list of case numbers for which the renewed ADET are ready for collection on an indicated day. Therefore, beneficiaries have to regularly consult the lists online until they find an entry corresponding to their individual case number. However, the lists of the renewed residence permits are announced on the same segment of the website of the Ministry as the residence permits that are issued for the first time. This creates an enormous confusion to beneficiaries considering that the residence permit guidelines of the Asylum Service advise them to consult the list of the renewed residence permits. However, only the RAO of Chios and Leros upload the lists of the renewed ADET on the specific platform created for this purpose, contrary to other RAOs.[25]
Returnees from other countries who may have been granted status several years before the establishment of certain Offices and Units face many obstacles upon their return to Greece. In particular, returnees arriving at Athens International Airport do not receive clear and accurate information on the authorities they should approach in order to obtain or renew their documentation.[26] They also do not receive any information on procedures for accessing their rights in Greece,[27] including on the possibility to access housing, given housing options for returnee beneficiaries do not exist in Greece.
Data concerning the total number of applications for renewal and the respective positive decisions was not provided by the Asylum Servi ce for the year 2023, even though GCR has requested it. Instead, following the latest such request sent by GCR in January 2024, the MoMA replied by referring GCR to the Ministry’s website “and in particular at the link: https://migration.gov.gr/statistika/ [where] the monthly newsletters are published, alongside relevant annexes, which include summary and detailed statistical data on the work of the First Reception Service, the Asylum Service and the Appeals Authority […]”[28]. Yet a closer look at the public sources referred by the MoMA highlights that the specific data is not available.
Nevertheless, as reported in a 16 February 2024 letter of the Director of the Asylum Service, which came in response to an intervention submitted by 16 NGOs, at the time, 4,029 renewals applications were pending, out of which only 1,871 were under examination. Out of the total 4,029 pending renewal applications, 300 had also not even been given a protocol number, while 1,858 were in the process of being charged to an employee of the Asylum Unit of International Protection Beneficiaries.[29]
For those granted international protection under the “old procedure” prescribed by Presidential Decree 114/2010, the renewal procedure is conducted by the Aliens Police Directorate (Διεύθυνση Αλλοδαπών). Within the framework of this procedure, the drafting of a legal document for the renewal application is required. Based on available Country of Origin Information (COI), the application must demonstrate that reasons of persecution still exist. The decision used to be issued after a period of more than a year.[30] The delay in the renewal procedure is caused by that with which Courts provide data for potential ongoing criminal proceedings against beneficiaries and by the size of the administrative files of beneficiaries and the fact the files are available only in hard copy and not digitally. Due to these delays, a large number of beneficiaries of international protection, for over a year, have no access to the labour market, social security, social welfare and sometimes healthcare, thus facing destitution and homelessness. The certificate of application (βεβαίωση κατάθεσης αίτησης ανανέωσης άδειας διαμονής) provided by the Aliens Directorate, similarly to the certificate of application provided by the Asylum Service, lacks a photo, serial number, watermark and any relevant legal provisions allowing the document to be accepted by other Greek Public Authorities. Moreover, this certificate has no expiration date.
In response to GCR’s request, the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police provided, among others, data on renewal applications. In particular, during 2023, 345 applications for renewal of residence permits of refugees were submitted before the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police, of which 272 applications were granted positive decisions. 9 applications out of 345 were rejected, while 64 were still pending. Furthermore, during 2023, 200 applications for renewal of residence permits of beneficiaries of subsidiary protection were submitted before the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police, of which 145 applications were granted positive decisions. 3 applications out of 200 were rejected, while 25 applications were still pending. It was stressed by the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police that an individual assessment is made for each renewal application.[31]
Lastly, according to a survey conducted by UNHCR from July 2022 – June 2023 with 424 beneficiaries of international protection, 60% of those interviewed reported that they had residence permits.[32]
[1] Article 23(1) Asylum Code.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Contrary to what is applicable for immigrants, who can be informed individually for the issuance of their residence permit through https://pf.emigrants.ypes.gr/pf/, such platform does not exist for the individual information of beneficiaries of international protection regarding the issuance of their residence permits.
[4] Ministry of Migration, Initial Residence permits that are ready, available at: https://bit.ly/3QiENRL.
[5] See also RSA and Stiftung Pro Asyl, Beneficiaries of international protection in Greece: Access to documents and socio-economic rights, March 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3lRUB1C, para 17.
[6] JMD 513542/2022, Gov.Gazette 4763/B/12-9-2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3WdBvTG.
[7] RSA and Stiftung Pro Asyl, Beneficiaries of international protection in Greece, Access to documents and socio-economic rights, March 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/42TxVza, p. 6.
[8] See website of the Ministry of Employment: https://bit.ly/3KZj7oE.
[9] Holding a valid residence permit is a prerequistie for accessing the labour market, as per article 26 Asylum Code.
[10] Article 192 L. 5078/2023 (Gov. Gazette A 211/20.12.2023), amending article 57(1) Asylum Code.
[11] Articles 10 & 11, JMD Φ80320/109864/14.12.2023, Gov. Gazette B 7280/22.12.2023.
[12] Article 23(1) Asylum Code, JMD 513551/2022, Gov. Gazette Β ́ 4763/12.09.2022
[13] Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Circular 69244/2023 – Εγκύκλιες Οδηγίες σχετικά με την εφαρμογή της με Αριθμ. 513551/05.09.2022 (Β ́ 4763) Κοινής Απόφασης των Υπουργών Οικονομικών και Μετανάστευσης και Ασύλου «Καθορισμός του αρμόδιου οργάνου επιβολής και της διαδικασίας βεβαίωσης του προστίμου του έβδομου εδαφίου της παρ. 1 του άρθρου 23 του ν. 4939/2022 (Α’ 111)», 1 February 2023, 4.
[14] RSA and Stiftung Pro Asyl, Beneficiaries of international protection in Greece, Access to documents and socio-economic rights, March 2024, available at: https://bit.ly/3Vy9DYJ, p. 8. See also RSA and Stiftung Pro Asyl, Beneficiaries of international protection in Greece, Access to documents and socio-economic rights, March 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/45y1CY1, pp. 6-7.
[15] Article 17 L. 4825/2021.
[16] Ombudsman, ‘Καθυστερήσεις πλέον του έτους στη διαδικασία ανανέωσης Α.Δ.Ε.Τ. σε υπόθεση δικαιούχου διεθνούς προστασίας’, 316047/64653/2022, 28 November 2022.
[17] Intervention by 16 NGOs of the national Legal Working Group to the Minister and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Renewal of identification documents of beneficiaries of international protection, prot. no. β/117/15.02.2024. Said intervention raised the following issues: (a) Long delays in the processing of applications for renewal of ADETs and travel documents by the Asylum Service, (b) Non-acceptance of the Asylum Service’s “Certificates of beneficiaries of international protection”, (c) Obstacles in the communication of beneficiaries and legal representatives with the Asylum Unit of International Protection Beneficiaries, (d) Ineffective means and procedures for the service of the issued ADETs and travel documents by the Asylum Service.
[18] Letter of Director of the Asylum Service, Renewal of identity documents of beneficiaries of international protection, prot. no. 58515/16.02.2024.
[19] RSA and Stiftung Pro Asyl, Beneficiaries of international protection in Greece, Access to documents and socio-economic rights, March 2024, available at: https://bit.ly/3Vy9DYJ, p. 9.
[20] RSA and Stiftung Pro Asyl, Beneficiaries of international protection in Greece, Access to documents and socio-economic rights, March 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/45y1CY1, p. 7.
[21] Letter of Director of the Asylum Service, Renewal of identity documents of beneficiaries of international protection, prot. no. 58515/16.02.2024. The original letter is available at GCR.
[22] Article 13 JMD 513542/2022, Gov. Gazette Β ́ 4763/12.09.2022.
[23] Article 7 JMD Φ80320/109864/14.12.2023, Gov. Gazette B 7280/22.12.2023.
[24] Article 8 in conjunction with Articles 5 and 6 of JMD Φ80320/109864/14.12.2023, Gov. Gazette B 7280/22.12.2023.
[25] MoMA, Initial Residence Permits that are Ready, available at: https://bit.ly/3QiENRL. The separate page for renewed residence permits is available at: https://bit.ly/4aOprgn.
[26] RSA and Stiftung Pro Asyl, Beneficiaries of international protection in Greece, Access to documents and socio-economic rights, March 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/45y1CY1, p. 8.
[27] Ibid.
[28] MoMA, Analysis and Studies Office, Reply to GCR’s request for information for the preparation of the updated Annual Report on Greece for 2023 in the framework of the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) project, received on 14 February 2024 (protocol number: 55259).
[29] Letter of Director of the Asylum Service, Renewal of identity documents of beneficiaries of international protection, prot. no. 58515/16.02.2024.
[30] See ECRE, AIDA, Country Report: Greece, 2022 Update, June 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3VMjZWa.
[31] Reply of Headquarters of the Hellenic Police, Statistics – AIDA REPORT on GREECE 2020, prot. no.: 1016/125-300109/16.02.2024.
[32] UNHCR, Key Findings: July 2022 – June 2023, Protection Monitoring of Refugees in Greece, August 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/4dgyE2l.