If you cannot return to your country of origin because of persecution or war, you can apply for international protection. There are two types of international protection in Slovakia.
Asylum
You can be granted asylum if you have fear of persecution in your country of origin. The persecution may be for racial, national or religious reasons, because you have a particular political opinion or because you belong to a particular social group.
You can apply for asylum as soon as you enter Slovakia at a border crossing point or at the Asylum Department of the Police Department in Humenne. If you are already in Slovakia, you can also apply for asylum at other police departments. The police will give you a document to take you to a detention camp. There, the initial asylum procedures will be carried out and you will be provided with accommodation and food.
Once you have applied for asylum, you will be transferred to an asylum facility. In most cases, the Migration Office will decide on your application within 6 months. Until then, you are obliged to stay in Slovakia.
During the asylum procedure, you have:
- the right to accommodation in an asylum facility,
- the right to food,
- the right to urgent medical care,
- the right to psychological assistance,
- the right to basic material assistance and hygienic needs,
- the right to education,
- the right to social assistance,
- the right to access legal aid and legal representation. You can contact the Human Rights League as well as the Slovak Humanitarian Council,
- the right to an interpreter in a language you understand,
- the right to attend a Slovak language course.
There are rules in the European Union about which country is responsible for deciding on your asylum application (the so-called ‘Dublin procedure’). If you apply for asylum in another European Union country, you may be sent back to Slovakia. This is because, according to the Dublin procedure, the first country in which you register should decide on your asylum application.
Subsidiary protection
Subsidiary protection can be granted if you do not meet the conditions for asylum but cannot return to your country of origin because you would face serious harm (e.g. because of an ongoing war).
If you are granted one of these forms of international protection, you will be allowed to stay on the territory of the Slovak Republic and will be helped to integrate into Slovak society.
Assisted voluntary return
If the police give you a deportation order and you decide to return voluntarily to your country of origin, you can contact the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). They can help you with your travel documents and organise a safe and dignified return home.
