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🔳 Emergency numbers

🔳 Starting the asylum process

Anyone who needs international protection from persecution or danger in case of return to their country of origin for reasons related to their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group or they flee war torture, or inhumane and degrading treatment can seek asylum in Greece. Whether you plan to stay in Greece or want to be reunited with family members who reside in other EU countries through Family Reunification, you must register your application with the Greek Asylum Service. According to European legislation, the country through which you are entering the European Union is competent to assess your application for international protection. This means that, as a rule, if you apply for international protection in Greece, you cannot do so again in another European Member State, as the authorities of that country have the right to return you to Greece. Keep in mind that if you don’t apply for asylum and do not possess any other legal document in Greece, you are not legally residing in the country and might receive a detention decision in view of deportation. In detention, you still have the right to apply for asylum in Greece. If the police release you before applying for asylum, you will receive a police note giving you a deadline to leave Greece voluntarily. Also, the police note might indicate where you are allowed to move. Once it is released, you still have the right to apply for asylum.

 

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🔳 THE ASYLUM PROCEDURE - The Steps

⬜ ASYLUM APPLICATION

According to Greek law, once you cross to Greece from either the land or the sea border, you should express your will to apply for international protection as soon as possible.

Arriving on the islands

At the sea borders of Greece, there are Closed Controlled Access Centers (Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos) where you can apply for international protection. Until the registration appointment, you will go through the reception and identification procedures, which include a nationality check, medical test and fingerprinting. Even though, the restriction of liberty within the Closed Controlled Access Center (CCAC), should be - according to the law- an exceptional measure and shall not exceed 25 days, it is imposed to all newcomers until they are registered by the Reception and Identification Center. During this time, you will not be allowed to exit the CCAC.

If you arrive on the islands, your asylum application will be examined under the border procedure, an accelerated procedure applied in the islands. You will, as a rule, be imposed with a geographical restriction which obliges you to remain on the island where you arrived. According to the law, if no decision is issued on your asylum application within 28 days, you should be allowed to enter the mainland for your application to be examined according to the Regular Procedure. In practice, according to information after the 28 days, the Asylum Service will refer you to the Regular Procedure without notifying you, but the geographical restriction remains active for a longer period of time until it is lifted by the Reception and Identification Service (RIS). Please note, that it is very common, there is not a unified practice, so there might be differences from island to island. 

Unaccompanied minors under the age of 15 and minors who are victims of human trafficking, torture, rape, or other serious forms of psychological, physical or sexual violence shall be exempted from the border procedure. However, if certain conditions apply, such as their country of origin is designated as safe (Egypt, Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Georgia, Gambia, Ghana, India, Morocco, Bangladesh, Benin, Nepal, Pakistan, Senegal, Tongo and Tunisia) or if they have submitted a subsequent asylum application, their application might also be examined according to the border procedure. Minors remain also restricted in the CCAC until they are transferred to an accommodation facility for minors. The restriction of liberty shouldn’t exceed 25 days.

Moreover, vulnerable persons needing unique procedural guarantees may also be exempted from the island border procedure when adequate support cannot be provided to them. This can happen following a lift of the geographical restriction by RIS and a referral to the regular procedure by the Asylum Service. In practice, it mainly concerns severe health issues that cannot be treated on the islands.

Find more info: Moving from the islands to the mainland | Border Procedure on the islands

 

Arriving on the mainland

If you arrive via the mainland, the Police might transfer you to the Reception and Identification Centre of Filakio (Evros region) so that you can proceed with lodging your asylum application and go through the reception and identification procedures.

Newly arrived persons who find themselves on the mainland and have not registered their applications for asylum at the Reception and Identification Centres or the Closed Controlled Access Centers of Islands can book an appointment to register their application for international protection in mainland Greece via an application form provided by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. An email address is necessary to log in, submit the application with your personal details and be given an appointment for registration. In case you went through, you registered your willingness to apply for asylum before the police, and you have a police note, you can add the relevant number to the form. You can choose to register at the Reception and Identification Centre in Diavata (close to Thessaloniki) or the one in Malakasa (“Gerakini” camp close to Athens). After submitting your application, make sure to click on “download proof” so that a PDF file with the confirmation of your appointment can be sent to your email address.

When completing the application for the registration appointment, you will also be informed that upon arrival at the registration location, you will be required to reside in the facility “until the registration is completed, for a maximum of 25 days”. Since the asylum interview might also take place during the time that you will have to reside in the First Reception camps of Malakasa or Diavata, it could be helpful to contact legal actors and have legal information about the asylum procedure before your appointment. According to the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, you have the right to reschedule your appointment for registration up to 2 times. Remember to always keep relevant documents that prove that you could not be there for your appointment (e.g. medical or other documents) and share them as soon as possible with the Greek authorities.

Please be aware that this process is intended for citizens of third countries who wish to apply for international protection in Greece. Please note that this process does not apply to:

  • Citizens of third countries who have already submitted an asylum request.
  • Unaccompanied minors.
  • Criminal prisoners.

⬜REGISTRATION

Once your asylum application is registered, you will receive an invitation mentioning your interview date and the asylum card. Please read more about the registration in the RI article to better understand the registration procedure and what you should expect on that day.

Find more info: Registration

⬜ ASYLUM CARD

The International Protection Applicant's Card that you will receive following the registration of your asylum application has the form of a smart card with your case number, duration of validity, unique number (UID) and the PAAYPA number that you need for your health insurance. Additionally, they will inform you about the issuance of a Tax Identification Number (AFM). Note that if you are in Greece and your close family member lives legally in another European country, you may be able to join them by filing an application for family reunification. Please note that the case number that is written on your asylum card will be requested every time you wish to contact the Asylum Service and know details about your case, e.g. when you send an email to the competent asylum service, you will need to write your case number as the subject of your email. Moreover, any time you wish to file an application via the Online Platform of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, you will need to fill in your case number and your personal file number (ΧΧ/999999999), which both are stated in your Asylum Card and in any document issued by the Asylum Service, regarding your case.

Find more info: Asylum seeker’s smart cards

⬜ SOCIAL INSURANCE (PAAYPA to AMKA)

Your PAAYPA number will be on your asylum card. In case you are granted refugee or subsidiary protection status, you must apply to the competent AMKA service (e-EFKA office or KEP) within one (1) month from reception of your residence permit to change your Temporary Insurance and Health Care Number (PAAYPA) to AMKA.

Find more info: Health Insurance

⬜ FILE SEPARATION

Applicants have the option to apply for asylum on behalf of their family members. To proceed, adult family members must provide written consent. It's important to note that this is entirely optional. Should you prefer to submit individual asylum applications, you retain the right to do so. This applies to adult applicants and minors aged fifteen (15) and above, who also have the right to submit their applications independently.

In situations where a joint case exists with family members, but there is a desire to separate the files, you have the right to request the separation of your international protection application from those of your spouse, mother, father, or child. This circumstance can be due to divorce, legal separation, filing for divorce, the unfortunate death of a family member, or any other reason where privacy of information is a concern.

Find more info: Asylum Application-File Separation

⬜ AGE ASSESSMENT

If there are doubts about whether you are a minor, the Asylum Service might refer you to age assessment procedures.

The age assessment procedure includes a medical examination by a general practitioner or paediatrician, a psychologist, and a social worker, as well as an examination by ex-rays, depending on how difficult it is to determine the age. In every stage of the procedure, you have the right to be informed about the procedure that will be followed and its results in a language you understand. The results should be notified to you in the end. If you disagree with the results of the age assessment, you have 15 days to appeal. In that case, it is better to consult a lawyer.

If your interview takes place before your age assessment has been finalized, make sure to mention that the Greek Asylum Service case worker is assessing your age at the beginning of your interview. Depending on the case, your interview will continue or be postponed to a later stage.

⬜ WORK

Two months after the registration of your asylum application, you will be eligible to work, and you will need a tax number to work legally in Greece. The tax number is called an "AFM" number, and you will be informed about its issuance following the completion of your registration.

Find more info: Working in Greece

⬜ INTERVIEW

Following your asylum application registration, you will be given an interview date before the Asylum Service. You may have an "admissibility interview" to determine if Greece will examine your asylum application or if you should be returned to Turkey.

If you don't have an admissibility interview, or if you have one and authorities find your asylum claim should be examined in Greece, you will have an asylum interview. The asylum interview is called an "eligibility interview".

Find more info: Your asylum interview in Greece

⬜ When your file is closed by the Asylum Services 

If the Asylum Service considers that you are not interested in the continuation of the examination of your asylum application, it might issue a decision of discontinuation and close your file in the following cases: 

  • if you refuse to give information required by the Asylum Service, 
  • if you miss your interview,
  • if you escape from your place of detention, 
  •  if you do not comply with the obligations the Police imposed on you instead of detention, 
  • if you leave the camp without informing,
  • if you leave the country without asking permission from the Asylum Service, 
  • if you do not notify the Asylum Service of any changes in your contact information,
  • if you refuse to provide the documents requested,
  • if you do not renew your applicant card on time (the latest on the working day following its expiry date),
  • if you do not cooperate with the Authorities,
  • if you do not comply with a transfer decision.

In that case, you have the right to request the continuation of the examination of your case only once and within nine (9) months from the issuance of the suspension decision. 

If nine months pass and you do not file the application mentioned above for continuation of the examination of your asylum application, you have the right to submit a new application, which will be considered a subsequent application. 

Find more info: About Subsequent applications. 

⬜ NOTIFICATION OF THE DECISION

The Greek Asylum Service should reach out to you when it has decided on your asylum application. Make sure it has your up-to-date contact information. If during the interview, you have provided your email address for the notification of the decision, you need to check it very regularly, including the spam folder. The decision might also be communicated to your authorized lawyer or to the Head of the Reception and Identification Centre, if you reside in one.

You will receive a notification of the decision on your asylum application in one of the following ways:

  • In-person to you at the Asylum Service.
  • By post to your residence or work address or your lawyer or your authorized advisor or representative.
  • To the email address that you gave to the First Reception Service or the Asylum Service or to the email address that your lawyer or authorized advisor or representative gave. Make sure that you check your email regularly, including the SPAM folder.
  • Through an application managed by the Asylum Service, you will have access through an online account.

The day you are notified of the decision on your asylum application is very important because, in case of a rejection, the deadline to appeal against the decision begins on the following day of the notification. When the notification of the decision is taking place via electronic means, the deadline

begins 48 hours after the sending of the electronic message. In case the decision was notified to the Head of the Reception and Identification Centre, a notice of receipt shall be posted immediately in visible areas of the premises, and the deadline for lodging an appeal will start three days after the notice of receipt has been drafted.  

ATTENTION: If you don’t submit an appeal within the deadline, your appeal will be rejected unless you prove by documents that the delay was caused by reasons of unforeseeable circumstances. If your appeal is rejected, you have the right to submit a new application, which will be considered a subsequent application. 

Find more info: If your address or phone number changes.

🟢 NOTIFICATION OF THE DECISION - POSITIVE DECISION 

⬜ RESIDENCE PERMIT (ADET)

Once you get your decision granting international protection, you will also receive the decision to issue a Residence Permit (ADET). Most Regional Asylum Offices make both decisions on the same day. If an asylum office publishes your decision on an island and you have moved to the mainland, you need to reach the nearest asylum office and ask them to contact the asylum office on an island to send your decision to the mainland office. You will likely wait 3 months or more until you get your RESIDENCE PERMIT (ADET) card.

Find more info: Residence permit

⬜ TRAVEL DOCUMENTS (TDV)

You can apply for your travel documents as soon as you get a positive decision on your asylum case, which means that you have been granted refugee status. If you have received subsidiary protection, you can apply for travel docs but NOT IN ALL CASES, depending on nationality and whether it is possible for you to issue a national passport. To apply for a Travel Document (TDV or passport), you need to make an appointment at the police station or at a passport police station. Usually, you can apply for both ADET and TDV on the same day. You can choose if you want to collect your travel document from the regional asylum office in Athens or the one in Thessaloniki. The travel documents issued are uploaded here every Friday. You can use your asylum case number to check if your travel documents are ready. If you miss the appointment uploaded by the asylum service, you can contact them for a new appointment through this platform.

Find more info: Travel documents

⬜ FINGERPRINTS

To apply for the issuance of a residence permit (ADET) and travel document (TDV), you must make an appointment at the police station for fingerprints and submit the necessary documents, including a valid international protection applicant’s card.

Find more info: Fingerprints

⬜ BRING YOUR FAMILY

Now that you are a recognized refugee, you have the right to bring your family from your country of origin. If you are a beneficiary of subsidiary protection (partial asylum), you cannot ask for your family to join you in Greece.

Find more info: Bring your family to Greece

⬜ CASH ASSISTANCE

You can continue to access the cash assistance program for a limited time after you get asylum.

Find more info: Cash assistance program

⭕ NOTIFICATION OF THE DECISION - NEGATIVE DECISION ⭕

⬜ APPEAL THE DECISION

If you receive a negative decision on your asylum application, you have the right to appeal within a specific time, which is clarified in your decision. You can do this process ONLY with legal support. If you do not have legal support, make sure to request free legal aid, which the Greek state has to provide through the Registry of Lawyers of the asylum service. You can request legal aid by completing this form online. 

On mainland Greece, the deadline to appeal your asylum decision is usually 30 days from the day the Greek Asylum Service notifies you of its decision if your asylum file is processed with the normal procedure. If your file is processed with the fast-track procedure, the deadline to appeal is 20 days from the day the Greek Asylum Service notifies you of the decision.

If you are on a Greek island, you have ten days to appeal if you get a negative answer after an admissibility interview. You have ten days to appeal if you get a negative decision after an eligibility interview. The number of days you have to appeal after the negative decision might change, so IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ASK FOR A LAWYER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE YOU RECEIVE THE NEGATIVE DECISION. If you appeal against the decision that rejected your asylum application, you receive back your asylum seeker's card and a document with the date of the examination of your appeal before the Appeals Authority in Athens. Please note that the lodging of the appeal doesn’t always have a suspensive effect. This means that in some cases -e.g. when your application is rejected under the accelerated procedure or is rejected as inadmissible- you need to submit a separate application before the Appeals Committee, requesting to allow your stay in Greece until the second-instance decision is issued.

Find more info: Appealing your asylum decision in Greece-first-instance appeals

 

⬆️ If you receive a positive decision on your appeal, go to step "POSITIVE DECISION" to see the next steps ⬆️

⭕ NEGATIVE DECISION ON YOUR APPEAL

If you receive a negative decision on your appeal, you need to pay on your own the expenses of a legal representative to appeal AGAIN within 30 days before the competent Administrative Court of First Instance.

Find more info: Appealing your asylum decision in Greece-second-instance appeals

⬜ SUBSEQUENT APPLICATION

You can apply again for asylum by submitting a subsequent application in one of the following cases: 

  • If you have received a second instance decision rejecting your appeal issued by the Appeal’s Authority and you do not wish to take your case to court, 
  • If you missed the deadline for submitting an application of annulment before the court 
  • If your application for annulment has been rejected or 
  • If the Asylum Service closed your file, that might be the case when you did not renew your asylum card on time or did not go to your asylum interview.

Important! Your subsequent application will only be accepted if you provide along with it new and substantial elements that have arisen after the examination of your initial application or if there are elements that existed before but could not be invoked by you during the assessment of your previous asylum application.

Find more info: ABOUT SUBSEQUENT APPLICATIONS 

⬜ RESIDENCE PERMIT FOR EXCEPTIONAL REASONS

A residence permit for exceptional reasons (in Greek: Άδεια Διαμονής για εξαιρετικούς λόγους) can be granted to persons currently residing without any legal documents in Greece but can prove their residence in Greece for 7 consecutive years before applying with documents of a specific date. Please note that you need to be undocumented at the time that you submit the relevant application. The residence permit is granted by a decision of the Secretary of the Decentralized Administration. It provides the right of access to the labour market, and it is issued only once and is valid for 3 years.

Important note: According to the latest law on Migration, the period during which a person has submitted an asylum application and was waiting for a decision is excluded and will not be counted in the total of 7 consecutive years of stay. 

Find more info: RESIDENCE PERMIT FOR EXCEPTIONAL REASONS

⬜ NEW TYPE OF RESIDENCE PERMIT FOR WORK

A residence permit for work might be granted to persons residing in Greece until November 30, 2023, and still living in Greece without holding a valid residence permit, provided that they can prove their residence in the country for 3 consecutive years and have a job offer from an employer based in Greece.

Find more info: NEW TYPE OF RESIDENCE PERMIT FOR WORK

Important note: 10-Year Residence Permit for Unaccompanied Minors - Applications

The Ministry of Asylum and Migration Greece has announced a 10-year Residence Permit option for persons who have entered Greece as Unaccompanied Minors.

Check the criteria and the application process in this article.

⬜ DEPORTATION OR READMISSION

In case of a second negative decision, you might be given a certain period to leave Greece and voluntarily return to your country of origin or be detained so that your removal takes place by the Greek authorities (more commonly on the islands). In the cases of voluntarily returning, after the expiration of the deadline, in case of a police check, you might be detained and deported.

Find more info: Deportation or Readmission

What are you rights in immigration detention centers?

🔗ENGLISH - Know your rights in immigration detention

🔗FRENCH - Vos droits pendant la rétention administrative

🔗ARABIC - حقوقك أثناء االحتجاز

🔗FARSI - حقوق شما در جریان توقیف

🔗URDU - حراست کے دوران آپ کے حقوق