SUMMARY OF THE PROCEDURE TO FOLLOW BY THE APPLICANT OF ASYLUM IN SPAIN

The application must be made by the applicant personally at arrival at the border post or within a month of arriving upon requesting an appointment (which we can make on her behalf) at the Asylum and Refugee Office, at any Foreign's Office, any authorized Police Station or at any Foreigners Detention Centers unless the applicant can justify that can not do it personally in which case it would be allowed to be done by a proxy on his/her behalf.

The request will be formalized through a personal interview that will always be carried out individually. Exceptionally, the presence of other members of the applicant's family may be required, if this is considered essential for the proper formalization of the application.

The persons in charge of conducting the interview will inform the applicant on how to make the application, and will help the applicant to complete it, providing the applicant with the basic information related to it. Likewise, they will collaborate with the applicant to establish the relevant facts of the request.

The filing of the application for international protection will be communicated to UNHCR, which may be informed of the status of the file, be present at the hearings with the applicant and submit reports for inclusion in the file. For this purpose, they will have contact with the applicants, including those who are in border offices or in detention centers for foreigners or prisons.

Rights and Obligations of The Applicant

The applicant for international protection, once has submitted the application, has the following rights:

To stay in Spain until the request is resolved, unless a claim from another country of the European Union or from an International Criminal Court is made;
To be documented as an applicant for international protection;
To legal assistance, free of charge if necessary;
To the assistance of an interpreter in a language that is understandable to the applicant;
To forward the request to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Spain;
To the suspension of any process of return, expulsion or extradition that could affect the applicant;
To know the content of the file at any time;
To health care in case of need and to receive health benefits;
To receive specific social benefits.

Applicant’s duties:

To cooperate with the Spanish authorities in the procedure;
To submit, as soon as possible, all those circumstances that, together with the applicant’s own declaration, contribute to substantiate the request. Among others, the applicant may produce the documentation that the applicant may have at hand about age, past - including that of related relatives -, identity, nationality or nationalities, places of previous residence, previous international protection applications, travel itineraries, travel documents and reasons for those who request protection;
To provide fingerprints;
To allow to be photographed;
To allow his statements to be recorded provided this has been previously informed to the applicant;
To inform about the applicant's address in Spain and any change of the said address;
To inform the competent authority or appear before it, when so required in relation to any circumstance of the request.

Effects of The Submission of The Application

Once the international protection has been requested, the foreign person may not be subject to return or expulsion until the request is resolved or it is not admitted.

The request for protection will give rise to the beginning of the calculation of the periods foreseen for it’s processing.

The applicant may be entitled to receive benefits if he/she qualifies.