legal and social conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in ...

The OAR is responsible for examining the applications and for preparing a report on their
admissibility or inadmissibility. Unlike border applicants, in-country asylum seekers normally have
no access to legal counselling during the initial stage and the interview, however they are given a
subsequent term of ten working days to submit any complementary statements or evidence in
support of their claim. The authorities consider that applicants may use this period to contact a
lawyer (through the local Bar or a refugee assisting NGO) and to receive assistance, if necessary.
When it considers an application to be inadmissible, the OAR forwards a proposal to the Minister
of Interior, who then makes the formal decision.
The UNHCR representative has to be informed and given the opportunity to express an opinion
on the case before the inadmissibility decision is made. UNHCR’s opinion is not binding, but the
OAR follows it in most cases.
The decision of inadmissibility regarding an application submitted within the country must be
reached within 60 days. If no decision is made during this period, the application is automatically
considered to be admissible and it is further processed under ordinary determination procedure.
Nevertheless, in accordance with Section 5(8) of the Asylum Act, the circumstances that may
have justified a decision of inadmissibility can still lead to the rejection of the application under
ordinary determination procedure.
Negative decisions may be appealed to the National High Court. Such appeal does not
automatically have suspensive effect, however this can be requested from the Court. No removal
should take place until the Court has decided to grant or refuse suspensive effect, but in practice
this rule is not always observed.
During recent years, a large proportion of applications submitted in Spain have been rejected
under the admissibility procedure. This has been repeatedly criticised by both refugee assisting
NGOs and the Ombudsman.
No. of applications deemed inadmissible* Inadmissibility rate
1995 2,712 61.36%
1996 2,687 57.75%
1997 3,384 68.00 %
1998 3,780 56.56%
1999 n/a n/a
* this includes both border and in-country applications
Ordinary determination procedure
Applications deemed admissible are processed under the ordinary refugee status determination
procedure.
The procedure starts with an investigation of the merits of each case by the OAR, which is
responsible for processing all asylum claims submitted in Spain. Each application is studied by an
officer who has undergone special training on the country or area from which the applicant
comes. Not all asylum seekers are interviewed for a second time by an OAR officer, but this is the
normal procedure when it is possible that Convention status or temporary protection on
humanitarian grounds may be granted. A second interview may also take place at the applicant's
request or at the request of his/her lawyer, UNHCR or any refugee assisting NGOs. The applicant
may continue to submit any evidence to support his/her case throughout the OAR investigation.
The file is then forwarded to the Inter-Ministerial Commission on Asylum and Refugees
(“Comisión Interministerial de Asilo y Refugio” – CIAR), which has the task of drawing up a
proposal for the first instance decision, which is then submitted to the Ministry of Interior for its
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