Legal steps during asylum procedure in Austria

The first legal step is called Acceptance procedure / “Zulassungsverfahren” (see also: Dublin II). This acceptance procedure consists mainly in finding out whether Austria is the country responsible for your asylum application. This will be done at one of the EASt, where the authorities will check your status and try to find out whether Austria is responsible for your asylum procedure. This will be done a) by asking you how you have reached Austria and b) by searching a database (Eurodac) whether you have left fingerprints in other countries.

IMPORTANT: If you tell them the countries you have travelled through in order to reach Austria or if you carry any evidence (coins, train tickets, etc.) with you, this will count as evidence for them to enforce DublinII regulation!
In case they find out that you have been somewhere else in the EU you will be sent back to the respective country (in the case of Greece you have to make an appeal with the European Court for Human Rights to stop the deportation). They will ask only a little bit about why you left your home country, but whatever you tell them will be written down and used in the whole procedure – so be clear about what you say and try to memorize it. If you are a minor they will maybe send you to doctors in order to find out your age. Try to stick to one age indication and do not change it anymore.

This acceptance procedure (“Zulassungverfahren”) can last several days up to weeks and sometimes even months. From 1st july 2011 on, you have to stay inside the first reception center for the first 5-7days! Keep this in mind when contacting friends or legal aid, it might be more difficult from within the center. After this time, if the procedure ist still running, you are not allowed to exit the district of the camp (“Gebietsbeschränkung”). You can only go to the nearby cities in exceptional cases. If you still want to leave the district and go somewhere else, be very careful, as it is reported that (civilian) police patrol the area around the camps as well as the main public traffic lines and stations. People who get caught can be fined with high monetary penalties or imprisonment.

You can move freely within the districts (for Traiskirchen: district Baden, Thalham: district Vöcklabruck). People from the city or somewhere else can come and meet you outside the camp. The town of Traiskirchen also has an Internet Cafe but it costs some money. It is generally advisable to contact one of the groups mentioned below, as the legal aid inside the camp is often not supporting asylum seekers to the full legal potential.

In these first days or weeks it is checked if Austria or another EU-country is responsible for your asylum application. If it is decided that Austria will deal with your asylum application, you will be sent to a sheltered accommodation somewhere in Austria. 

You will have to wait for some time until you are being questioned for the 2nd time, this is normal. This interview will be carried out by the “Bundesasylamt” (BAA) and by a translator. You will be asked about your reasons for leaving your home country and your specific situation there. And they will try to find out whether what you say is believable. Try to be as precise as you can, try to be detailed and be coherent (do not to produce contradictions regarding what you say and said in the first questioning). If the BAA doesn’t believe you the first time, this will have negative effects on the whole process.

IMPORTANT: The translator will translate everything you said (it will be written down by the authorities) after the interview. If you have any doubts about what is written down DO NOT SIGN either the specific page or the whole interview!!

After this interview you will have to wait for weeks to months again. If you get the decision consult one of the above mentioned organisations immediately (in case you get a negative decision there is only two weeks time to appeal it). A negative decision by the BAA can be appealed within two weeks only. Afterwards another legal body (Bundesasylgerichtshof) will check your asylum application again. This also will take up to months and you will have to be very patient.

What happens if you hide?

If you hide during the process of your asylum procedure, you will have to hide for 18 months (if you hide in Austria and deposited your asylum application in Austria); if you have an open asylum procedure e.g. in Hungary and you want to start a new one in Austria, then you will have to hide for 6 months. In any case you will have to prove that you have been outside the European Union for more than 3 months (train tickets with name; residence registration or similar documents..).