How should you challenge a negative asylum decision, or any other decision issued by the State Agency for Refugees.
If you consider that a decision of the State Agency for Refugees is wrong or violates your rights, you can appeal it to the Administrative Court using the procedure provided in the Administrative Procedure Code.
Deadline
A decision on the inadmissibility of the application for international protection may be contested before the regional Administrative Court in accordance with the current address in the registration card of the asylum seeker. This must be done within 14 days of the announcement of the decision.
A rejection of the application for international protection (rejection of both refugee and humanitarian status) may be contested before the regional Administrative Court in accordance with the current address in the registration card of the asylum seeker. This must be done within 14 days of the announcement of the decision.
The interviewing organ can decide to apply an accelerated procedure based on the credibility of an application for international protection. A decision on the rejection of the application as manifestly unfounded may be contested before the regional Administrative Court in accordance with the current address in the registration card of the asylum seeker. This must be done within 7 days of the announcement of the decision.
The decision for termination of the asylum procedure may be contested before the regional Administrative Court in accordance to the current address in the registration card of the asylum seeker. This must be done within 7 days of the announcement of the decision.
Fees
According to the law the court appeal proceedings in asylum cases are not subject to payment of fees. The appellant is required to cover only the expenses for expert opinion, if such are appointed by the court. However, if you are unable to afford to satisfy your basic life needs you do not have to pay the latter as well.
Content of the appeal
The Administrative Procedure Code provides instructions on the content of the appeal and the information that needs to be included. The appeal must be submitted in Bulgarian. In order to be able to follow the requirements of the appeal procedure, asylum-seekers have the right to free state legal aid. Read about how to apply for state legal aid for your appeal proceedings.
After the judgment
If the appeal is successful, the Administrative Court will send the case back to the State Agency for Refugees to review the application. If the appeal is unsuccessful, you have the option to appeal the judgment of the Administrative Court to the Supreme Administrative Court within 14 days.
After the judgment of the last court instance , you may have the option to submit an application to the European Court of Human Rights. For example, if your expulsion would result in a violation of the prohibition on torture. In the field of asylum law, the European Court of Human Rights has emphasised that it does not examine the actual asylum application. Its main concern is whether effective guarantees exist that protect the applicant against arbitrary expulsion.
Read more about how to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.