What does the asylum procedure entail?
During the asylum procedure, the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs must review your asylum application individually and impartially, verifying the correctness of the evidence and information provided, the credibility of your statements, and performing the necessary procedural acts.
Time limits
Your asylum application must be reviewed within six months of the receipt of the application. The time limit may be extended in limited circumstances listed in the law, if:
- complex issues of fact or law are involved
- a large number of persons simultaneously apply for international protection
In these cases, the time limit of six months may be extended by a maximum of nine months.
A clearly unfounded application for international protection may be reviewed under an accelerated procedure, including at the border. The use of accelerated procedure is not allowed if it is impossible to take account of the special needs of the applicant, primarily in a case where the applicant is a victim of torture or rape or has been subjected to other serious forms of psychological, physical or sexual violence. Under an accelerated procedure, the application is reviewed within 20 working days.
Elements of the procedure
An essential part of the procedure is the asylum interview, in the course of which you are provided with an opportunity to present facts and give explanations with regard to the circumstances that motivated you to apply for international protection. The interview is recorded and a written summary is produced afterwards. The summary is in Latvian, but the contents of this summary should be translated to the asylum seeker. The main interview will be conducted by the Office of the Citizenship and Migration Affairs, because they are the institution that makes the decision whether to grant you asylum or not. The officials may conduct more than one interview or send clarifying questions after the interview, when necessary.
If the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs deems it relevant for the assessment of your application, they may arrange a medical examination to establish signs of past persecution. The medical examination is subject to your consent.
You are required to present all the documentation regarding your reasons for applying for international protection as soon as possible, as well as about your background and other aspects relevant to your application.
It is likely that, as an asylum-seeker, you are unable to support your statements by documentary or other evidence. In this case, the main importance lies on assessing the credibility of your statements and comparing them with the available information on your country of origin. The European Court of Human Rights has confirmed that it is important to take into account all the difficulties which an asylum-seeker may encounter abroad when collecting evidence, so benefit of the doubt should be granted in favour of the person seeking international protection.
example You escaped your country due to the threat of imprisonment for being a human rights activist, and holding and spreading views that your government does not tolerate. You have no documentary evidence about the treatment you have been subjected to by the authorities, or access to the warrant for your arrest. However, your statements are plausible, coherent, in accordance with the country of origin information, and you have submitted photos that prove your participation in the activities of the human rights organisation. In this case, the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs should not rely on the lack of documentary evidence to reject your application.
Decision-making
If the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs decides to declare the application for international protection to be unfounded, then before making the decision you must be given an opportunity to provide your counterarguments, either in oral or written form. If the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs makes a negative decision, they have the obligation to give reasons for it in writing in a language that you can understand.