The political situation in different countries forces an increasing number of people to look for assistance in receiving political asylum in order to protect themselves and the family members from the threat to life and health in their homeland. To ensure a stable future for themselves want not only Russians, but also Belarusians, Ukrainians, Asians, and representatives of other countries. The process is not as simple as it seems – you need to make an action plan and prepare a number of documents, but even this does not guarantee that the application will be approved, so it is important to weigh the prospects initially and learn all the details of the procedure in order to increase your chances.
Before you get political asylum, you need to understand what this status is and why you need it. This is the name of the right of a citizen of any country to be in another state for a certain time, using the protection of the law. To ask the protection is entitled those who are subjected to persecution in their country for the following reasons:
- sexual orientation;
- religious beliefs;
- political judgments;
- social position;
- racial discrimination and belonging to a certain nationality.
Each country has its own procedure for granting political asylum for Russians and other nationalities. The lawyers of RPI Solutions will help to arrange the details.
How to register a political asylum for Russians.
Before beginning the procedure, you need to learn which countries provide political asylum to Russians. Each state has its own requirements, and in some of them, an application is submitted, being already on its territory. Having chosen a certain country in Europe, you should at once go there by plane, avoiding transfers. If the applicant primarily visited the other country, then he can only ask for help in it. Some people resort to tricks for not to be expelled – they do not show documents, saying that the passport is lost. But it will help unlikely, instead, it can significantly extend the time it takes to consider an application – 15 years or more. In this case, there will be no right to work – it is provided only to individuals with documents.
The standard terms for consideration of an application for political asylum for Russians vary from 30 to 150 days. During this period, you cannot leave the country. If the decision of the authorities is positive, the immigrant receives:
- Residence permit for a period of up to 5 years. 3 years later, the case will be reconsidered, and if the circumstances have not changed, the residence permit will be renewed. When the authorities consider that there are no reasons to stay in the country, the refugee must return home;
- termless residence permit. Such status is issued once and is not revised. It gives the right to work in a country as well as the first option.
After a certain time (depending on the laws of the country) a permanent residence is issued to the refugee, and then the citizenship. By the way, such a way to become a citizen of another country is considered the easiest of the existing ones – no need to pass language tests, the naturalization period is shortened. For example, the standard rules provide citizenship obtaining after 10 years of staying in the country, and the refugees can apply for it after 3 years.
Political asylum: how to ask to minimize the risk of failure
Before applying for political asylum, a person should cross the border or be in the country of destination, but the earlier the application is made, the better. It is considered that if a refugee has been living in the country of arrival for some time, and only over time begins to file documents, then there is no threat to his well-being and life.
As it was mentioned above, it is desirable to go straightway to the destination country by direct flight, as transit through other countries is only in certain cases is allowed before seeking political asylum. The existence of convincing evidence for the authorities that in his country the applicant is in real danger, the same concerns his family, becomes the main condition for the successful completion of the procedure. You should give maximum attention to it because it depends on whether you receive a positive decision or a refusal.
Having addressed to the authorities, you need to specify the reasons why you had to leave your homeland, as well as to provide documents confirming this. It may be:
- medical certificate of the harm caused to health, an extract from the psychologist with the relevant verdict;
- documents on calls to the prosecutor’s office and law enforcement bodies, court decisions, tax references, and other official papers indicating the presence of pressure, persecution, and intolerable living conditions;
- testimony – if there are obvious persecution and prosecution of a refugee, their statements are attached to the folder with documents. Such statements are issued in the free form, certified by the signature of an eyewitness and data from his passport;
- video and photo materials confirming membership in a political organization and participation in meetings and protests. This includes photographs showing beatings and damage of property. On the back of the photo, it is desirable to specify what is represented, and stamp the date;
- materials from media, directly or indirectly mentioning the flight reason from the country.
The important point is that all documents that are able to confirm the existence of a reason to request protection in another state should be translated into the local language.
The reasons for possible refusal
When going to the countries which give political asylum, you need to take into account the refusal cases. There are categories of persons whose applications are not considered and a number of reasons for which the refusal most often follows:
- the applicant ran away from the country, hiding from punishment for a crime;
- the applicant cannot confirm that illegal acts were committed against him in his homeland;
- The applicant’s country has sufficiently developed institutions for the protection of human rights;
- The immigration intention is to improve material prosperity;
- a person leaves the country due to natural disasters, military operations, an outbreak of the disease, etc.;
- the information specified in the documents is not incorrect;
- The political situation in the country of the applicant has improved.
What to do after acquiring the demanded status
Having learned how to apply for political asylum, having fulfilled all the requirements and have received the coveted status, many people do not understand what to do next. And further you need to choose an income source. In a new country, as a rule, the refugees are entitled to allowance. You can get medical insurance and free training for some professions so that you can get a job. It is important not only to find a job but also to comply with the laws of the country of residence because otherwise, the state will take away everything that has provided. It is necessary to consult with a lawyer and to learn how to get citizenship quickly, what procedures to prepare for and what documents to collect.
Assistance from lawyers abroad
The specialists of RPI Solutions company provide legal assistance and support to Russians who are counting on moving abroad. To all who face persecution, a threat to health and life, we recommend not to postpone the issue of finding protection in another state. Based on long-term practice and knowledge of the laws of different countries, lawyers will suggest in which country it is easier to obtain a residence permit and citizenship, how to prepare documents and which line of conduct to choose in order to minimize the risk of refusal.