Author
The authority responsible for accommodation and reception of asylum applicants is the Government Office for Support and Integration of Migrants (Urad vlade za oskrbo in integracijo migrantov, UOIM). The office is an independent authority operating directly under the Slovenian Government and is also responsible for assistance to and integration of beneficiaries of international protection as well as temporary protection holders.
In accordance with the IPA, applicants for international protection are entitled to material reception conditions at the Asylum Home or its branch facilities upon lodging of their application for international protection, irrespective and throughout the procedure they are in,[1] until a final decision on their application becomes enforceable.[2] Applicants who lodge their first request for subsequent application also have the right to material reception conditions until a final decision in the procedure becomes enforceable.[3] Applicants who lodge a second request for a subsequent application do not have the right to material conditions.[4]
Since a Supreme Court decision in 2018,[5] the IPA was amended to confirm that applicants in the Dublin procedure have the same rights as asylum seekers until their actual transfer to another Member State.[6]
Applicants are entitled to material reception conditions by lodging their asylum application; the law makes no distinction between “making” and “lodging” an application in this regard.[7] In practice, from the moment they express the intention to apply and until they have formally lodged their application, asylum seekers are held in the Asylum Home or its branch Logatec (see Detention of Asylum Seekers).
Applicants also receive an identification card which certifies their status as applicants for international protection in the Republic of Slovenia.[8] Applicants are not allowed to move freely on the territory. Their freedom of movement is limited to the municipality in which they are accommodated.[9] They are informed about this limitation of movement by the Migration directorate upon lodging their application. The limitation does not apply for unaccompanied minors.[10] According to Article 32 of the Slovenian Constitution everyone has the right to freedom of movement. The provisions were submitted to the Constitutional Court for review by parliamentarians in 2022.[11] The decision was not made by the end of the year.
The law provides that applicants who have their own means of subsistence (amounting to the basic minimum monthly income of 465,34€ per person) have to bear all or a proportional share of the cost for their material care,[12] which includes reception or accommodation. They are also not entitled to food, clothes, shoes[13] or a monthly allowance.[14] Asylum seekers must declare their financial resources before they are accommodated in the Asylum Home or its branch. The form of their financial resources is part of their accommodation documentation and is filled by the officials of the Migration directorate with the help of an interpreter. The content and the purpose of the form are explained to the asylum seeker and both the official of the Migration directorate and the interpreter have to sign the form together with the asylum seeker.[15] In practice, individuals do not have to bear all, or a proportional share, of the costs.[16]
Accommodated persons are obliged to move out of the reception centre when the decision on their application becomes enforceable.[17] Applicants who are granted international protection are given 15 days from the receipt of the decision (see Content of International Protection: Housing), whereas applicants whose application is rejected nevertheless retain all of their reception rights, including the right to live in the reception facility during the appeal (judicial review) procedure. If the negative decision is confirmed by a court, the rejected applicant must move out of the facility as the decision became final. In practice, individuals can stay for a couple days if they wait for the police to come and initiate the return procedure. The return procedure is started if they do not have the right to stay in Slovenia. As most individuals do not have the right to stay after the asylum procedure is completed and the national legislation does not allow them to obtain any other residence permit in Slovenia, the majority of people abscond when they receive the negative court decision. If the person stays and waits for the police, the return procedure is started in the vast majority of cases. However, since only a small number of individuals is successfully returned each year and the majority of individuals in the return procedure have no other legal options, in practice most rejected asylum seekers abscond after receiving the final decision. One of the objectives of the new Immigration strategy[18] adopted in March 2024 is to put forward legislative changes that would, in exceptional cases, allow rejected asylum seekers to obtain a residence permit after their negative decision becomes final.
[1] Article 78(1) IPA.
[2] Article 78(2) IPA.
[3] Article 78(3) IPA.
[4] Article 34(3) IPA.
[5] Supreme Court, Decision I Up 10/2018, 4 April 2018, available in Slovenian at: https://bit.ly/49KEy9u.
[6] Article 78(2) IPA.
[7] Article 78(2) IPA.
[8] Article 107 IPA.
[9] Article 78(1), first indent IPA.
[10] Article 78(7) IPA.
[11] 24.ur, Določbe zakona o tujcih in mednarodni zaščiti v ustavno presojo, 10 February 2022, available in Slovenian at: https://bit.ly/3Pv1Yq7.
[12] Article 82(3) IPA.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Article 85(1) IPA.
[15] Observation by the PIC.
[16] Information provided by the UOIM, March 2024.
[17] Article 78(2) IPA.
[18] Immigration strategy of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, March 2024, availale in Slovenian at https://bit.ly/4ayyqlc.