IGI | RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS

RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS

27 January 2022

During the asylum procedure the foreigner applying for a form of protection has the following rights:

to remain in Romania until the expiry of a 15 days term since the completion of the asylum procedure, unless the application for asylum was rejected after its settlement in accelerated procedure or in border procedure, in which case you must leave Romania as soon as the asylum procedure has been completed. In the case of the procedure for determining the member state responsible for examining the asylum application, the right to remain on Romanian territory ceases on the date of transfer;
to be assisted by a lawyer at any stage of the asylum procedure;
to be given, free of charge, an interpreter apt to ensure proper communication at any stage of the asylum procedure, including during the judicial phase of the procedure by which a restrictive measure of placement in a specially designed space was ordered;
to contact and to be assisted by an official of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in any phase of the asylum procedure;
to be advised and assisted by a representative of the non-governmental organizations, Romanian or foreign, in any phase of the asylum procedure;
to have access, personally or through a representative, to the information contained in your file, unless otherwise stated by the law. Access to information in the personal file is granted based on the demand made to the specialized structure on asylum issues of the General Inspectorate for Immigration. At your request can be issued, free of charge, copies of documents from the personal file;
your personal data and any other details about the asylum application to be protected;
to be issued a temporary identity document, whose validity will be extended periodically by the General Inspectorate for Immigration. In the absence of documents to prove your identity, the declared identity will be mentioned on the temporary identity document. This document shall not be delivered:
- If you applied for asylum at a border control point state, as long as you have not been granted access to the territory by a decision of the General Inspectorate for Immigration;
- If you are in detention for reasons of national security and public order, seeking asylum, as long as this measure is maintained;
- If you are in detention in order to be transferred to the responsible Member State;
to participate in cultural adaptation activities;
If you do not have means for survival you can benefit, upon request, throughout the asylum procedure and during the period stipulated in paragraph 1, of material reception conditions that guarantee subsistence and protect physical and mental health;
to be accommodated in the reception and accommodation centers subordinated to the General Inspectorate for Immigration until the cessation of the right to stay in Romania, in case you do not have the material means for maintenance;
in case the accommodation capacity in reception and accommodation centers for asylum seekers is exceeded, the General Inspectorate for Immigration, within the available funds, can grant you a sum of money in order for you to rent accommodation or can offer you specialized services for reception and accommodation in individual or collective locations;
if you are a person with special needs, the accommodation conditions and assistance in the accommodation centers will be tailored to your needs;
to receive free of charge primary medical care and proper treatment, emergency medical care as well as medical care and free treatment in case of life threatening acute or chronic diseases, by means of the national healthcare system and emergency qualified first aid;
the right to be included in the national health programs that aim to prevent, monitor and control the transmittable diseases, in epidemiological risk situations;
if you are an asylum seeker with special needs have the right to receive proper medical care;
to receive social assistance as provisioned by Law no. 292/2011 on social assistance;
to receive access to the labor market in the terms provisioned by the law for Romanian citizens, after the expiry of a 3 months period from the date of application for asylum, if your request has not been answered during the administrative phase of the procedure and the delay cannot be imputed to you, as well as during the progress of the asylum procedure in court. If at the filing date of the application you have a regulated right to stay in Romania and are legally employed, you can continue to perform the lucrative activity;
if you have access to the labor market, you can benefit from measures stimulating employment as well as enjoy protection in the unemployment insurance system, as provided by the law for Romanian citizens;
the minors’ right to access ante pre-school, pre-school and compulsory school under the same conditions as Romanian minor citizens, unless an expulsion measure against them or their parents is enforced;
on request, you can receive reimbursement of your transport costs occasioned by your travel to court in order to attend the hearings, if the process is conducted in another city than the one you are staying in and if the movement is achieved by means of automobiles, second class rail or by boat;
to be visited by family members, representatives of national and international non-governmental organizations and bodies with responsibilities in the areas of asylum or respect for human rights, licensed and accredited in accordance with the law, as well as by the legal representative;
on request, you can be provided with legal and procedural information, including information on the procedure in administrative phase, under the legislation on legal aid in civil matters, taking into account your personal situation;
on your request, under the legislation on legal aid in civil matters and considering your personal circumstances, you can be provided with information on the reasons for the decision of rejection of your asylum application, about the procedure for contesting the ordinance instating the measure of placement in a specially arranged enclosed space, and on the possibility of contesting the decision to grant, limit or withdraw the material reception conditions;
in order to benefit from the rights provided by law, the General Inspectorate for Immigration will assign you a personal identification number that will be inscribed in the temporary identity document;
if you are a minor, you enjoy the same protection offered under the law to Romanian minors in difficulty.
if you are an unaccompanied minor and you cannot prove your age there being serious doubts about the minority, the General Inspectorate for Immigration may, before the settlement of the application in the administrative phase, conduct a forensic evaluation of age, only with the prior written consent of you and your legal representative;
if it was found that an applicant for asylum is injudicious, their interview will be conducted in the presence of the guardian or, where appropriate, their curator.

If you are an unaccompanied minor, the legal representative will help you to benefit from the rights listed above. Also, you can ask the legal representative to help you solve problems you encounter in Romania. Prior to the appointment of the legal representative, you can ask for guidance and counseling the officer or director of the center where you are staying.

During the asylum procedure the foreigner applying for a form of protection must:

present in writing to the competent bodies the asylum application containing the data indicated by the authority at which you deposit it, and to submit to fingerprinting and photography. Fingerprinting is not done if you are under age 14;
present to the competent authorities complete and actual data on your identity data and asylum application;
submit all documents that you have at your disposal and are relevant to your personal situation;
surrender the document for crossing the state border, and will receive a temporary identity document;
track the status of the procedure and inform the General Inspectorate for Immigration about the change of residence, within 5 days from the occurrence of the change;
respond to requests from legal bodies in the field of asylum;
not leave the locality of residence without the authorization of the General Inspectorate for Immigration. The permit will be issued by the General Inspectorate for Immigration after an individual, objective and impartial, examination, and in case it is not authorized, the decision shall be justified;
attend the medical examinations that will be established for you and submit to the vaccination, as appropriate, in order to protect public health;
on request by the competent authorities, submit to body checking and to the examination of items that you carry with you;
respect the laws of the Romanian state and the measures taken by the competent Romanian authorities regarding asylum;
leave Romanian territory within 15 days of completion of the asylum procedure, in case you have not obtained the required form of protection, except for the situation in which your asylum application was rejected as manifestly unfounded after its settlement in accelerated procedure, in which case you must leave Romanian territory as soon as the asylum procedure has been completed. The obligation does not exist if you have the right to stay covered under the laws on the legal regime of foreigners in Romania.