New provisions on asylum system in Romania

The recent amendments brought about through the Ordinance No. 1/2014, published in the Official Gazette on the 27^th of January, 2014, modify and add several terms concerning Law No. 122/2006 on asylum in Romania and also related to the Government Ordinance No. 44/2004 regarding social integration of aliens who previously acquired a form of protection or residence permit granted by the Romanian state, including individuals from the EU member states and from the EAA.

Changes performed include the addition of the definition of terms such as “international protection“referring to the refugee status granted through the subsidiary protection. Important adjustments cover the necessity for establishing a clear function of the responsibilities of the Romanian state providing international protection to aliens with long-term residence permits, issued by another member state, taking into consideration the obligation for initiating procedures to alter terms related to granting international protection. Another aspect covered through these latest changes impacting the asylum system in Romania is connected to Romania’s state obligations to accepting the entrance in our country of citizens who benefit from international protection provided that they were taken out of a member state which issued for them the long-term residence permit. These newly introduced features include as well the addition of references stating that for the case when a request was admitted concerning the transfer of responsibility, for a foreign citizen who was provided a long-term residence permit by a member state, the General Inspectorate for Immigration must request the member state in question to modify the terms regulating procedures for granting international protection. Due to these changes, the new legal support regarding the asylum system in Romania comes to provide supplementary provisions explaining the regime of foreigners requesting international protection in Romania and the status of refugees already benefiting from international protection in our country. It brings new details to provisions regulating procedures for granting, cessation and cancellation of international protection in Romania; it indicates procedures for establishing the member state which has the responsibility to review the asylum request, conditions for granting it, exclusion and cessation of temporary protection.

According to these provisions the residence permit is provided as soon as possible, after the international protection granting, for three years, for persons whose refugee status was acknowledged, or for two years, for persons who were provided the subsidiary protection. After the expiry date a new permit shall be issued. Travel documents must be issued, on demand, for beneficiaries of the international protection regime in Romania for two years, without an extending option. Another document must be provided after expiry date. An entire article was added in order to regulate the situation of vulnerable persons with special needs. This category includes minors, unaccompanied minors, people with disabilities, elderly persons, pregnant women, single parents with minor children, victims of human trafficking, people with mental illnesses, persons who were tortured, raped or involved in other violent instances with severe psychological outcomes. Experts from the General Inspectorate for Immigration will evaluate condition for these people establishing if they fall into this category.

We fully comprehend the vulnerabilities of such cases and our lawyers strictly approach these contexts. Our team delivers any necessary detail related to either asylum conditions in our country or application procedures for Romanian residence permit.