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* The following process also applies to Ukrainian nationals who haven’t obtained the Temporary Protection status, have applied for asylum and have been rejected.

What can I do if the Greek authorities reject my asylum application?

After your interview, the Greek Asylum Service will decide whether to grant you asylum or subsidiary protection or to reject your application. If the Greek authorities reject your asylum application or you are granted a subsidiary protection status and consider that you are entitled to the refugee status, you have the right to appeal — but you must act quickly. Caution! The number of days you can appeal (deadline) starts from the day of the notification of the decision (meaning the day you get the decision). If you do not appeal within the deadline and do not have a legal document allowing you to stay in the country, Greek authorities may start deporting you. Please, remember to always update your contact information with the Asylum Service via the Ministry Platform. If you have provided an email address, check it regularly (including in the spam folder). You maintain the right to appeal after the deadline has expired, but in that case, you must prove that you couldn’t appeal on time of severe reasons.

Deadlines

Read the decision and the accompanying document carefully in your language, as the deadline for lodging an appeal varies depending on your location and the procedure under which your application is examined. The deadline will be written in these documents.

On the mainland of 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 and you are on the mainland in Greece. 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.

Caution! The 30- days-deadline starts from the day of the notification of the decision. The notification of the decision can be done 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, authorized advisor or representative.
  • To the email address, you gave to the First Reception Service or the Asylum Service or the email address given by your lawyer, authorized advisor or representative.
  • You will have access through an online account through an application managed by the Asylum Service.

On the Greek islands

Mainland and islands

If you have been notified of a decision to be transferred to another EU member state according to Dublin Regulation and do not wish to be transferred, the deadline for the appeal is 15 days.

If the decision is issued while the reception and identification procedure has not yet been completed, the deadline for the appeal will be 10 days.

If you have submitted a subsequent asylum application, and this application is rejected as inadmissible, the deadline for the appeal is five days.

Note: Non-working days are also counted, but you might have an extra day if the last day of your deadline falls on a non-working day. To be sure you don't miss the deadline, submit your appeal as soon as possible.

The Greek Asylum Service should notify you of its decision in a language you understand, using your contact information.

The deadline to appeal will be printed on your rejection notice. Always check the deadline for the decision. If it is unclear to you, ask the person serving you the decision for clarification or contact a legal NGO as soon as possible.

Procedure

The appeal shall be submitted in a written form before the Asylum Office that has issued the decision, must be signed by you or your authorized lawyer and must mention the specific reasons why you are challenging the first instance decision. If these conditions are not fulfilled, your appeal will be rejected as inadmissible.

In practice, these requirements can only be met by a lawyer. Once you submit the appeal, you will receive an invitation mentioning the date of the examination of your appeal, and you will get your asylum card back unless the lodging of the appeal does not have a suspensive effect.

*(Read below the section: Suspensive effect of the appeal-right to stay on the Greek territory)

The Appeals Authority examines all appeals in Athens. When you appeal, an appeals committee will hear your case. Usually, the committee consists of three Greek administrative court judges or a single judge for appeals filed after the deadline and for specific appeals examined under the accelerated and admissibility procedure.  

Unless you are summoned explicitly by the Appeals Authority no later than ten (10) days before the hearing, there will be no further interview -the procedure before the Appeals Authority is written and based on the case file elements. Still, you must present yourself before the Appeals Authority on the day of the examination of your appeal unless you reside in a first reception or accommodation facility or have geographical restrictions.

Obligation to be present before the Appeals Committees on the day of the examination

As mentioned right above, you must present yourself before the Appeals Authority in Athens on the day of your appeal hearing. Otherwise, your appeal will be rejected as unfounded.

If you cannot present yourself before the Appeals Authority in Athens and you have a lawyer, you can sign an authorization for them to represent you before the Appeals Authority.

If you are living in an official refugee site or an NGO's accommodation program and you cannot present yourself before the Appeals Authority in Athens, you can ask the Head of the site to provide you with a certificate of personal appearance (ΒΕΒΑΙΩΣΗ ΑΥΤΟΠΡΟΣΩΠΗΣ ΕΜΦΑΝΙΣΗΣ) that you are continuing living there. This certificate must be dated three days maximum before the hearing, and it must be sent to the Appeals Authority at the latest 1 day before the hearing.

In case you have a movement restriction, or you are obliged to stay in a particular area of Greece, and, because of that, you cannot go to Athens to present yourself before the Appeals Authority, you can either authorize a lawyer to represent you or ask for a certificate of personal appearance (ΒΕΒΑΙΩΣΗ ΑΥΤΟΠΡΟΣΩΠΗΣ ΕΜΦΑΝΙΣΗΣ) from the closest Police Station or KEP.  This certificate should be sent to the Appeals Authority the latest one day before the hearing for the appeal, and its date cannot be older than two days before the hearing.

If you cannot present yourself before the Appeals Authority in Athens due to an illness or a force majeure situation, your obligation to present yourself before the Appeals Authority is suspended. In that case, you must submit an application explaining the reasons that prevent you from going to the Appeals Authority as soon as possible, attaching all the relevant documents that prove your claim. Official documents from a public authority must prove the events that prevent you from going to the Appeals Authority. If your claim is accepted, you will not face the consequences of not presenting yourself before the Appeals Authority.

Suspensive effect of the appeal-right to stay on the Greek territory

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.

Legal Assistance

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ASK FOR A LAWYER AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THE NEGATIVE DECISION, as it is a complicated procedure, and the Asylum Service is obliged to provide legal aid at this stage.

If you don't have a lawyer following your case, or if the lawyer who supported you for the asylum interview can't represent you, you must request a lawyer from the Greek Asylum Office. You have the right to free legal aid from the Greek State during appeals. This can be done at any time up to 5 days before the examination of the request. You can do so, even if you submitted your appeal by yourself within these five days and decide later that you want to be represented by a free lawyer. You can apply for legal aid online via the Ministry Platform here. By expressing this request, the Greek Asylum Service must appoint a lawyer. There will be ONLY ONE appointment (via Skype) to discuss your case and add any new information to support your claim. This can be done up to 5 days before the appeal examination. If you submit an appeal on your own even though you requested a lawyer (maybe a lawyer was not appointed on time), ask the Asylum Service to mention that in your appeal. 

Useful info:

  • You will be informed about the date of your appointment with the lawyer representing you by the Asylum Service.
  • The appointments are, as a rule, short in duration, so make sure to go through your case and gather the questions you would like to ask.
  • You must have all the documents related to your case together at the appointment with your lawyer.
  • The lawyer should inform you of the next steps.

Issuance of a Decision

The deadline for the issuance of the decision varies depending on the procedure under which your appeal is examined, but it must be at most 30 days. In practice, further delays are very likely to occur.

You will be informed about the decision when you go to the Asylum Service to renew your asylum card. Sometimes, the Asylum Service may call and tell you about the decision.

Recently, the Asylum Service has started sending the decisions by post. So, always update your contact information with the Asylum Service. If you have provided an email address during the registration of your asylum application or during the interview, the decision might be notified to you via email, so always make sure to check your email regularly (including your spam folder).

Applicants or their authorized attorneys may request a certificate of application status to be informed about the stage of the examination of their appeal. The application is submitted in person to the Central Secretariat of the Appeals Authority, sent via email to: appealsauthority@migration.gov.gror, and requested via the Platform of the Ministry online.

 

Second rejection

If your appeal is rejected, you have two options: submit an Application for Annulment or Submit a Subsequent Application for international protection.

 

Submit an Application of Annulment (cancellation)

You have the right to appeal this decision by submitting an application of annulment (cancellation) before the competent Administrative Court of First Instance within thirty (30) days. The deadline starts on the next day of the notification of your decision. The annulment application does not have an automatic suspensive effect, meaning that your removal from the country is possible from the first day of the notification of the decision that rejected your appeal. To appeal before the Court, you will need a lawyer. There is the possibility of providing free legal aid from the State. You have to submit an application before the competent Administrative Court of First Instance (in Greek), which requests the provision of a lawyer by the State and not to pay the fees required for filing applications of annulment and the application of suspension (legal aid). Along with your application, you must submit any document proving that you have a low income, for example, a last year's tax return, unemployment card, etc. You will need a lawyer as it is a court procedure.

Find below the required documents you must submit for free legal aid:

  • A copy of the decision of the Appeals Authority and the proof of service of it.
  • Copies of a recent tax declaration and tax return note (ekkatharistko) or a certificate of the Head of the Tax Office that you are not obliged to submit a tax declaration.
  • Copy of the statement of real estate data (E9) (or, in case you have no obligation to submit such statement, a solemn declaration stating that you don’t own real estate and, therefore, you are not obliged to submit a statement of real estate data (E9) 
  • Certificates of social welfare services
  • Proof of residence or domicile (house contract or solemn declaration of the person hosting you)

Find here the application (Greek) 

Submit a Subsequent Application for international protection.

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 or if your application for annulment has been rejected, you can apply again for asylum, by lodging a subsequent application.

Please check here, the requirements and the procedure.