Author
General (scope, time limits)
According to the law, the border procedure applies to asylum applications made at a border-crossing point. The asylum application made at the territorial border offices of the Romanian Border Police at a border crossing point is immediately submitted or forwarded to the competent structure of IGI-DAI, which examines it and issues a decision within 3 days.[1] In addition, foreigners are also subject to the border procedure when, after a first asylum procedure in Romania, they have made a subsequent application at a border crossing point.[2]
The substance of the application is assessed during the border procedure, if the case officer decides to do so, based on the statements of the asylum seeker during the interview. According to the law, after the interview and the assessment of the reasons invoked for granting international protection and country of origin information, IGI-DAI may: (a) grant a form of protection; (b) grant access to the territory and the regular procedure if the application is not manifestly unfounded or if there are indications that Dublin or Admissibility grounds apply; or (c) reject the application as manifestly unfounded and not grant access to the territory.[3]
According to Article 87 of the Asylum Act, an asylum seeker shall remain in the transit area of the border-crossing point until a decision granting access to the territory or a final decision rejecting the asylum application is issued. This period cannot exceed 20 days.[4] However, if the asylum application is still pending after the 20-day deadline, the asylum seeker is granted access to the territory.[5]
The asylum seeker may be accommodated in special reception and accommodation centres near the border-crossing points, established by order of the Minister of Internal Affairs and having the legal status of a transit area.[6] Asylum seekers accommodated in these centres receive 3 meals a day free of charge, under conditions established by a Government Decision.[7] The dispositions referring to the amounts owed for nutrition are not applicable to the asylum seeker subject to border procedure.[8]
The asylum seeker shall be immediately provided information in writing, in a language that they understand or are reasonably supposed to understand, on the border procedure, granting or not granting access to the territory, their rights and obligations during the procedure, the possibility to challenge the decision issued by the case officer, as well as the possibility to request legal aid according to the law.[9] In 2023 and 2024[10], CNRR distributed leaflets in all Regional Centres for Procedures and Accommodation for Asylum Seekers, as well as at the CNRR headquarters in Bucharest. Leaflets about asylum procedure and Dublin procedure, material available in Pashto, Arabic, Kurdish, French, English, Amharic, Somali, Bengali, Urdu, Turkish. Leaflets about rights and obligations of asylum seekers during the asylum procedure, translated into 7 languages: English, French, Arabic, Kurdish, Pashto, Urdu, Turkish.[11]
In practice, asylum seekers subject to the border procedure are accommodated in specially designed places, which officially should exist at every border crossing point:
- Moraviţa: There are two rooms specially designed for the border procedure. There is no courtyard where asylum seekers may go out.
- Timișoara “TraianVuia” Airport: There is a separate building designed for the border procedure. The building has three rooms, each of the rooms have 4 or 5 beds, 2 toilets, 4 showers and a kitchen. The building has a courtyard where people may go out, but only under supervision, as they are under a closed regime.
- Bucharest Henri Coandă Airport / Otopeni: There are three rooms in the basement; two are communal and the third one is separated. Women are accommodated in separate rooms. There is no possibility to go outside.
Concerning the structure of the centres mentioned above, the Border Police[12] stated that there are sufficient accommodation spaces until IGI-DAI grants access to territory for the asylum seekers subject to the border procedure. No further details were provided.
According to the director of the Regional Centre of Timișoara, there was one asylum application made in 2022 at the border-crossing Moravita and it was rejected. There was no available data for 2023.
In 2022 there were 551 asylum applications processed under the border procedure, according to IGI-DAI. The main countries of origin of the applicants were Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Russia and Cuba.[13]
In 2023, according to the Border Police,[14] 772 asylum applications were made at border crossing points, but no details were provided on how many applications were accepted and how many rejected. In 2024, according to IGI-DAI, there were 45 applications under the border procedure. The main countries of origin of the applicants were Palestinian Authority in Palestine (31), Uzbekistan (3), Ukraine (2), Syria (2) and the Russian Federation (2). [15]
Personal interview
As a general rule, a decision is taken by the case officer of IGI-DAI after an interview and assessment of the reasons invoked by the asylum seeker against the country of origin information.[16] However, the law also establishes the possibility to deliver a decision without conducting an interview, if it is possible to issue a decision to grant access to the regular procedure on the basis of the personal file.[17] In case of subsequent applications, there is no interview. The decision is issued on the basis of a written application.
The interview is conducted at the border by a case officer of the territorially competent branch of IGI-DAI, under the same rules as the personal interview in the regular procedure. The only difference relates to the place where the interview is conducted and to the swiftness of the procedure. According to the Director of the Regional Centre of Timișoara, the personal interview in case of border procedure is the same as the personal interview in the regular procedure. The asylum seeker is asked about their reasons for fleeing. The case officers decide whether to go into details on the merits of the case.
Access to legal representation by a lawyer or UNHCR during the interview in the border procedure is difficult, given the 3-day time limit for issuing a decision. NGOs are only aware of the cases subjected to the border procedure if IGI-DAI informs them directly or through UNHCR.
According to Law 122/2006, IGI officers travel to border crossing points to conduct an interview with the asylum seeker. Following the interview, a decision is made to either grant a form of protection and access to the territory, or grant access to the territory and the ordinary procedure, or reject the asylum application and not grant access to the territory.[18]
Access to legal representation by a lawyer or UNHCR during the interview in the border procedure is difficult, given the 3-day time limit for issuing a decision. NGOs are only aware of the cases subjected to the border procedure if IGI-DAI informs them directly or through UNHCR.[19]
Appeal
The asylum seeker has the possibility to challenge the decision issued by IGI-DAI within 7 days from the day the decision was communicated.[20] The competent court to decide on the appeal is the territorially competent Regional Court.[21] The provisions on submission of the appeal in the regular procedure apply accordingly.[22]
The court shall take a decision on the appeal within 5 days.[23] The decision has to be motivated and it is irrevocable. The court may decide: (a) to grant access to the territory and the regular procedure; or (b) to uphold the decision of IGI-DAI.[24]
If the court rejects the appeal, the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Border Police (IGPF) will take the necessary measures to remove the foreigner from the territory,[25] as the foreigner subject to the border procedure must leave Romania as soon as the asylum procedure has finished.[26] The border procedure is considered completed on the date when the decision of the court is delivered.
According to the legal counsellor of JRS, asylum seekers do not face problems lodging an appeal. Asylum seekers subject to the border procedure were assisted by the NGOs and UNHCR. The NGOs that provided responses did not reported problems in lodging an appeal in 2023.
According to CNRR, in some specific cases in 2024, language barriers and the short time limits represented obstacles to lodging an appeal at the border.[27]
Legal assistance
According to the law, asylum seekers subject to border procedure have the same rights to free legal assistance as the asylum seekers subject to the Regular Procedure: Legal Assistance.
What is particularly problematic for asylum seekers in the border procedure is the swiftness of the procedure and lack of access to legal counselling. As the deadline for delivering a decision is only 3 days, it is hard to get access to legal assistance; it depends on the willingness of IGI-DAI and the Border Police to inform the NGOs about these cases. In addition, the examination of applications cannot be effectively conducted within such a short time limit.
CNRR stated that all asylum seekers shall benefit from legal assistance. CNRR can provide free legal assistance at border crossing points, when an asylum application is lodged.[28]
[1] Article 82 Asylum Act.
[2] ibid. Article 83(3).
[3] ibid. Article 83(1)(a), (b) and (c).
[4] ibid. Article 87(1).
[5] ibid. Article 87(5).
[6] ibid. Article 87(2).
[7] ibid. Article 87(3).
[8] ibid. Article 87(3).
[9] ibid. Article 87(7).
[10] Asylum procedure leaflets CNRR, available here.
[11] Information provided by CNRR, 16 January 2024.
[12] Information provided by Border Police, 16 January 2024.
[13] Information provided by IGI-DAI, 22 February 2023.
[14] Information provided by Border Police, 16 January 2024.
[15] Information provided by IGI-DAI, 23 January 2025.
[16] Article 83(1) Asylum Act.
[17] ibid. Article 83(4).
[18] Information provided by CNRR in February 2025. Articles 82–83 of Law No. 122/2006 on asylum in Romania regulate the border procedure. When an asylum application is lodged at a border crossing point, the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI-DAI) must assess the claim within 3 days. Following the interview, the case officer may decide to:
(a) grant international protection and access to the territory;
(b) allow access to the territory and to the regular asylum procedure if the application is not manifestly unfounded; or
(c) reject the application as manifestly unfounded and deny access to the territory.
[19] Information provided by UNHCR, March 2025.
[20] Article 85(1) Asylum Act.
[21] ibid. Article 85(2).
[22] ibid.
[23] ibid. Article 86(1).
[24] ibid.
[25] ibid. Article 86(3).
[26] ibid. Article 17(1)(a).
[27] Information provided by CNRR in February 2025.
[28] Information provided from CNRR in February 2025.