Author
National legislation does not distinguish between making, registering and lodging an asylum application. These three steps overlap in most cases. The authority competent to receive and register an asylum application is a specific police department within the BBFP. In any circumstances, it is not possible to lodge an asylum application at the Slovak embassy, consulate or external representation abroad.
The asylum procedure starts with the third country national´s declaration that he/she seeks international protection in Slovakia, made to the competent police department. The law does not set any time limit to make an asylum claim. When an individual wishes to apply for international protection at the point of entry to Slovakia, the police department competent to receive the declaration is the police department at a border crossing point or a police department in the transit zone of an international airport. If a third-country national wishing to apply for asylum is on the territory of Slovakia, the only police department competent to accept their declaration is the Asylum Department of the Police Force in Humenné. In case of third country nationals who are placed in police detention centres, the competent police department is the police department established at this detention facility. In case of third country nationals who are hospitalised, in custody/prison or in a childcare facility may seek international protection at the nearest foreign police department. If a person expresses a wish to seek asylum at a police department that is not competent under the law to accept the declaration, the department shall, in particular, establish the identity of the foreign national, arrange for an interpreter where necessary, and carry out a search of the person, luggage, and means of transport, of which an official record shall be drawn up. It shall also draft report (zápisnica o podaní vysvetlenia), which must include information that the person expressed an intention to apply for asylum in Slovakia.
Furthermore, the third country national shall be informed which police department is competent to receive the declaration of intention to apply for asylum and shall be issued a travel document valid for 24 hours. Where necessary, due to e.g. the person’s health condition, the security situation, or adverse weather conditions, the department shall arrange the transfer of the person to the Asylum Department of the Police Force in Humenné.
This police department is also required to promptly inform the MO where a foreign national has applied for asylum at a department that was not competent to receive the application.[1]
HRL is aware of cases where individuals who expressed their wish to seek international protection at a non-competent police department were not provided with information on where to submit their asylum applications and, as a result, were not issued a travel document. These individuals usually have to seek advice from NGOs assisting refugees and cover travel costs themselves. Considering that third country nationals already in Slovak territory can apply for asylum only at the Asylum Department of the Police Force in Humenné, located in the Eastern region of Slovakia, more than 400 km from the capital city, some applicants cannot afford the travel expenses.
According to a research study conducted by the HRL in 2011,[2] detained foreigners may express their intention to apply for asylum either in writing (on paper provided to them) or orally (by informing staff of the unit, or a lawyer or social worker, who then contacts the responsible staff of the police department established at this facility). The law does not regulate the length of time between the expression of the intention to apply for asylum and the actual lodging of the application. HRL documented a case in which the total time elapsed before the application was lodged was almost one month.
Third country nationals who arrive in Slovakia by plane, do not meet the conditions for entry, and apply for asylum in the transit area of an international airport are placed in transit centres. Transit centres are designated areas at international airports or delimited areas of other asylum facilities. The transfer and placement of asylum seekers in transit centres are not considered entry and stay in the territory of Slovakia.
The law does not prescribe any form in which a foreigner’s declaration to seek asylum must be made. After a person expresses a wish to apply for international protection, the competent police department is under an obligation to record the declaration on an official form – lodging the asylum application. A template of such a form of Declaration of Foreigner (Vyhlásenie cudzinca ) is an Annex 1 to the Asylum Act. The form contains personal information about the applicant, including a brief description of the reasons for submitting the asylum application. During the lodging of the application, the police shall provide interpretation where necessary. The police also draw up a separate record of the declaration (zápisnica o podaní vyhlásenia), containing the applicant’s personal data, information on the number of asylum applications submitted in Slovakia or other countries, the reasons for submitting such applications, and the outcomes of those proceedings.
During the initial stages of the procedure, the police also take away the applicant’s travel document or other identification documents they presented. An asylum applicant is provided with a receipt of confirmation (Potvrdenie o zadržaní cestovného dokladu (iného dokladu totožnosti) that includes information on where the travel or other identification document is stored. Travel/other identification documents of asylum application are usually stored in Police Detention Centres for Foreigners Medveďov and returned to the individual upon request after the termination of the asylum procedure. Travel documents of asylum applicants with valid temporary or permanent residence in Slovakia are not taken away from them; the police only make copies.
The asylum applicants are screened against the information systems of the Ministry of Interior. Asylum applicants older than 14 years old are also fingerprinted, and their fingerprints are sent to EURODAC.
Subsequently, the police department must forward the case file created during the lodging of the asylum application to the MO as the determining authority. The file mainly contains the Declaration of a Foreigner, the record of the declaration, and copies of the non-empty pages of the travel document. The documents must be transmitted to the MO without delay; however, the law does not prescribe a specific time limit. Based on HRL’s experience, the file is usually forwarded on the same day the application is lodged.
After the initial procedural acts at the police (lodging the application, taking away the trave/another identification document, screening the applicant in information systems and taking the fingerprints), the asylum applicant is accommodated at the Humenné Reception Centre, with the exception of applicants in transit centres, detention centres, hospitalised applicants and applicants in custody/prison or in a childcare facility, or applicants with valid temporary or permanent residence in Slovakia.
The Asylum Act recognises two situations in which the asylum procedure would not start despite a person´s expressed wish to seek international protection. Firstly, it is when a declaration is made by an unaccompanied minor (UAM). Secondly, the asylum procedure does not start if a declaration is made by a person who is already an asylum applicant in Slovakia.
Asylum applicants above 15 years of age are issued an asylum applicant’s card (Preukaz žiadateľa o azyl). The asylum applicant’s card is considered as their identity card only if the applicant’s travel document or another identity document has been seized. It contains information about applicant´s name, surname, sex, date and place of birth, citizenship, the fact whether it is considered an identity document, date of issuance and validity period of the card, the name of the asylum facility issuing the card, and also the names, surnames, dates of birth of the applicant’s children under 15 years of age if they are also asylum applicants. In case of individuals who applied for asylum at the border, after entering the Slovak territory or from the health care facility, the MO shall issue the applicant´s card within three days from the commencement of the asylum procedure. In all other cases, the applicant´s card shall be issued immediately after the applicant arrives to Humenné Reception Centre. Asylum applicants younger than 15 years old are issued the applicant card only in case they are not accompanied by their legal guardian. The applicant´s card serves as proof that the holder is an asylum applicant in Slovakia. The validity of an asylum applicant´s card is for the duration of the asylum proceeding.
[1] Article 2(3) of the Regulation Regulation of the MoI No. 34/2014.
[2] HRL, Zaistenie a alternatívy k zaisteniu v Slovenskej republike, 2011, available (in Slovak) here.