Asylum and international protection in North Macedonia

Under the Law on International and Temporary Protection (Official Gazette 64/2018), asylum is the international protection North Macedonia gives to foreigners and stateless persons in two forms. Refugee status is for a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of nationality or former habitual residence and cannot or, owing to that fear, will not return. Subsidiary protection is for a person who does not qualify as a refugee but would face a real risk of serious harm on return: the death penalty or execution, torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or a serious and individual threat to a civilian’s life from indiscriminate violence in an armed conflict.

An asylum seeker is a foreigner who has asked North Macedonia for protection and whose application has not yet been finally decided. The procedure is run by the Asylum Sector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVR). A list of safe countries of origin has been adopted (Official Gazette 56/2019).

A person seeking protection must ask for asylum when entering North Macedonia. The intention can be expressed to the police at the border crossing, at the nearest police station, at a reception centre for foreigners or to the Asylum Sector; the police officer then takes the person to the Reception Centre for Asylum Seekers. Someone already in the country applies to the Asylum Sector. The application can be made in writing or orally on record, in Macedonian or, where that is not possible, in the language of the country of origin, a widely used foreign language or a language the person can reasonably be expected to understand. The services portal lists no fee for the asylum procedure.

After the application, the person is photographed and fingerprinted and an initial registration interview is held on the prescribed form. Any passport, visas, residence permits, ID card, birth or marriage certificates, tickets and other relevant documents should be handed over. Within three working days the Asylum Sector issues a certificate with a stamp, number and date confirming asylum-seeker status and the right to remain during the procedure; when many applications arrive at once this can take up to ten working days. An identification document for asylum seekers is issued within 15 days and is valid until the final decision.

In the regular procedure the Asylum Sector must decide at first instance within six months of the application. For justified reasons this can be extended by three months, and by exception by a further three months to examine the application fully. The accelerated procedure applies when an application is inadmissible or manifestly unfounded, and the decision is then due within 15 days. It is not used for unaccompanied minors, persons with mental disabilities, or persons for whom there is evidence or serious indication of torture, rape or other serious psychological, physical or sexual violence.

Recognised refugees and persons under subsidiary protection aged 18 or over must apply for an identity card; from 15 a card can be issued on request with a parent’s consent. The refugee card is valid at least three years and is renewed; the subsidiary protection card is valid at least one year and renewed for at least two years, unless national security or public order prevents it. The services portal lists MKD 50 and MKD 310 for the card. Refugees gain the right to family reunification once status is granted, persons under subsidiary protection after two years; spouses married before arrival, partners, minor unmarried children and parents of minors with asylum are covered, and the request can be filed at a mission abroad. After five years of continuous stay with international protection, permanent residence can be requested.

Within 15 days of the application, the Asylum Sector must inform applicants in writing and orally, in a language they can be expected to understand, about their rights and obligations, the consequences of not cooperating, reception conditions, the right to legal aid and the right to contact legal aid providers, representatives of UNHCR and non-governmental humanitarian organisations at every stage and wherever they are. Applicants who claim at the border or a police station are taken by the police to the Reception Centre for Asylum Seekers. The Employment Agency lists asylum seekers among the foreigners to whom it issues work permits. Freedom of movement can be restricted under a separate rulebook.

Decisions of the Asylum Sector are challenged by a lawsuit before the Administrative Court in Skopje, filed through the registry or by post. For decisions in the accelerated procedure the services portal gives 15 days to file the lawsuit. The asylum seeker’s identification document remains valid until the final decision or, after a final refusal, until the deadline by which the person must leave North Macedonia.