General guarantees for applicants
1. During the administrative procedure referred to in Chapter III applicants shall enjoy the guarantees set out in paragraphs 2 to 6 of this Article.
2. The determining authority or, where applicable, other competent authorities or organisations tasked by Member States for that purpose shall inform applicants, in a language which they understand or are reasonably supposed to understand, of the following:
(a)
the right to lodge an individual application;
(b)
the time limits and stages of the procedure to be followed;
(c)
their rights and obligations during the procedure, including those under Regulation (EU) 2024/1351, and the consequences of not complying with those obligations, in particular as regards the explicit or implicit withdrawal of an application;
(d)
the right to free legal counselling for the lodging of the individual application and to legal assistance and representation at all stages of the procedure pursuant to Section III of this Chapter and in accordance with Articles 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19;
(e)
the means by which they can fulfil the obligation to submit the elements as referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347;
(f)
the decision of the determining authority in accordance with Article 36.
All the information referred to in this paragraph shall be provided as soon as possible to enable applicants to exercise the rights guaranteed in this Regulation and to enable them to adequately comply with the obligations set out in Article 9. The information referred to in the first subparagraph, points (a) to (e), of this paragraph shall be provided to the applicant at the latest when the application for international protection is registered. That information shall be provided by means of the leaflet referred to in paragraph 7, either physically or electronically, and, if necessary, orally. Information shall be provided to minors in a child-friendly manner and with the involvement of the representative or the person referred to in Article 23(2), point (a), of this Regulation.
The applicant shall be given the opportunity to confirm that he or she has received the information. Such confirmation shall be documented in the applicant’s file. If the applicant refuses to confirm that he or she has received the information, a note of that fact shall be entered in his or her file.
3. During the administrative procedure, applicants shall be provided with the services of an interpreter for the purpose of registering and lodging an application and, where applicable, for the personal interview, whenever appropriate communication cannot be otherwise ensured. The interpretation services shall be paid for from public funds.
4. The competent authorities shall provide applicants as soon as possible and before the deadline for lodging an application in accordance with Article 28(1), with the opportunity to communicate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or with any other organisation providing legal advice or other counselling to applicants in accordance with national law.
5. The determining authority shall ensure that applicants and, where applicable, their representatives or legal advisers or other counsellors admitted or permitted as such under national law to provide legal advice (‘legal advisers’) have access to the information referred to in Article 34(2), points (b) and (c), that is required for the examination of applications and to the information provided by the experts referred to in Article 34(3), where the determining authority has taken that information into consideration for the purpose of taking a decision on their application.
6. The determining authority shall give applicants notice in writing as soon as possible of the decision taken on their application. Where a representative or legal adviser legally represents the applicant, the determining authority may give notice of the decision to that representative or legal adviser instead of to the applicant.
7. The Asylum Agency shall, in close cooperation with the Commission and each Member State, draw up leaflets containing the information required by this Article. Those leaflets shall be drawn up in such a manner so as to enable Member States to complete them with additional information specific to the Member State concerned and shall take into account the specificities of vulnerable applicants such as minors or disabled persons.
Obligations of applicants
1. The applicant shall make his or her application in the Member State provided for in Article 17(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1351.
2. The applicant shall fully cooperate with the competent authorities referred to in Article 4 in matters covered by this Regulation, in particular by:
(a)
providing the data referred to in Article 27(1), points (a),(b) and (d);
(b)
providing an explanation where he or she is not in possession of an identity or travel document;
(c)
providing information on any changes as regards his or her place of residence, address, telephone number or email address;
(d)
providing biometric data;
(e)
lodging his or her application in accordance with Article 28 and remaining available throughout the procedure;
(f)
handing over as soon as possible documents in his or her possession relevant to the examination of the application;
(g)
attending the personal interview, without prejudice to Article 13;
(h)
remaining on the territory of the Member State where he or she is required to be present, in accordance with Article 17(4) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1351.
Where the competent authorities decide to retain any document as referred to in point (f) of the first subparagraph, they shall ensure that the applicant immediately receives copies of the originals. In the event of a transfer pursuant to Article 46 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1351, competent authorities shall hand back such documents to the applicant at the time of the transfer.
3. The applicant shall accept any communication from the competent authorities at the most recent place of residence or address, by the telephone number or email address indicated by himself or herself to the competent authorities, in particular when he or she lodges an application in accordance with Article 28.
Member States shall establish in national law the method of communication and the moment that the communication is considered to have been received by the applicant.
4. The applicant shall comply with obligations to report to the competent authorities at a specified time or at reasonable intervals or to remain in a designated geographical area on its territory in accordance with Directive (EU) 2024/1346, as imposed by the Member State in which he or she is required to be present in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1351.
5. Without prejudice to any search carried out for security reasons, where it is necessary and duly justified for the examination of an application, the competent authorities may require that the applicant be searched or that his or her items be searched in accordance with national law. The competent authority shall provide the applicant with the reasons for the search and include them in the applicant’s file. Any search of the applicant’s person under this Regulation shall be carried out by a person of the same sex with full respect for the principles of human dignity and of physical and psychological integrity.
Right to remain during the administrative procedure
1. Applicants shall have the right to remain on the territory of the Member State in which they are required to be present in accordance with Article 17(4) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1351 until the determining authority has taken a decision on the application in the administrative procedure provided for in Chapter III.
2. The right to remain shall not constitute an entitlement to a residence permit and it shall not give the applicant the right to travel to the territory of other Member States without a travel document as provided for in Article 6(3) of Directive (EU) 2024/1346.
3. The applicant shall not have the right to remain on the territory of the Member State concerned during the administrative procedure where the person is subject to a surrender to another Member State pursuant to obligations in accordance with a European arrest warrant issued in accordance with Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA ( 21 ) .
4. Member States may provide for an exception to the applicant’s right to remain on their territory during the administrative procedure where that applicant:
(a)
makes a subsequent application in accordance with Article 55 and the conditions laid down in Article 56 have been fulfilled;
(b)
is or will be extradited, surrendered or transferred to another Member State, a third country, the International Criminal Court or another international court or tribunal for the purpose of conducting a criminal prosecution or for the execution of a custodial sentence or a detention order;
(c)
is a danger to public order or national security, without prejudice to Article 12 and 17 of the Regulation (EU) 2024/1347, provided that applying such an exception does not result in the applicant being removed to a third country in violation of the principle of non-refoulement.
5. A Member State may extradite, surrender or transfer an applicant to a third country or an international court or tribunal as referred to in paragraph 4, point (b), only where the competent authority considers that such a decision to extradite, surrender or transfer will not result in direct or indirect refoulement in breach of the obligations of that Member State under international and Union law.
