Guide - Entrance to Italy

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Summary

1. Entrance to Italy
   1. How to enter Italy
   2. Residence Permit
   3. Residence card
   4. Family reuniting
   5. Expulsion
   6. Right to asylum
2. Permanence in Italy
3. Employment
4. Social security and assistance
5. Health
6. School
7. Useful information

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1.6 RIGHT TO ASYLUM

1. Rights
2. How it is obtained

1.6.1 RIGHTS

The Italian Constitution guarantees foreigners asylum rights in case they do not enjoy democratic freedom in their own country (freedom of thought, religion, opinion, movement, expression).

Impediment to recognition of asylum rights are:

• refugee status already granted in another country;
• provenience from a country that adheres to the Ginevre Convention in which a foreigner has spent a period of residence of more than a year;
• commitment of a crime against peace or humanity, war crime or serious crime in Country of reception;
• condemnation in Italy for a crime for which the law establishes the compulsory arrest;
• danger for the State safety;
• appurtenance to criminal organisations (mafia, terrorism, drug traffic)

Essential condition so as foreigner may really enjoy asylum right is his entry into the territory of the Italian Republic. Frontier police cannot prevent refugees entry in Italy, even if they do not possess necessary documents.

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1.6.2 HOW IT IS OBTAINED

NECESSARY DOCUMENTS

Request for recognition of refugee condition must be made within 8 days of entry in Italy or directly to the frontier police, which will send it to the nearest Police Headquarters or to the Police Headquarters of province where foreigner will reside.

The foreigner must Enclose to his request:

1. a declaration which explains the reasons for the request of asylum right;
2. a filled in prestamped form;
3. 3 photos.

PROCEDURE FOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RIGHT TO ASYLUM

Police Headquarters competent on the territory must send within 7 days of presentation, a request to the Central Commission for the recognition of the Status of Refugee. The Commission will then summon to Rome, for personal hearing, the foreigner who made the request. In the meantime Police Headquarters will issue a residence permit with the statement "waiting for political asylum", valid for two months, automatically renewable till notification of the Commission's decision. With the adoption of the new rules following the law n°189/02 (so called Bossi-Fini) the decision to acknowledge the asylum right will be took by territorial Commissions that will substitute the central commission. This territorial commissions will have their offices in the Government Territorial Offices - Prefetture). The Central Commission will maintain coordination and guidelines competence.

Foreigner's national passport is confiscated by Police Headquarters, which provides in taking photos of foreigner, of taking finger prints and in issuing a photocopy of passport with words "political asylum". For acknowledged indigent refugees a first assistance contribute is provided (around € 17 a day for 45 days); request of such contribute must be made together with political asylum request.

Within 15 days of hearing, the Commission makes a declaration on the request; the motivated measure is sent to competent Police Headquarters, which notifies the person concerned.

If the asylum request is accepted by the Commission, the foreigner is recognised as a political refugee and given an appropriate document. The latter is necessary to obtain administrative documents (residence permit and registry certificates) and to enjoy certain rights (family reuniting, citizenship within 5 years).

USEFUL INFORMATION

• Refusal of asylum right may be contested, by legitimacy or merit, within 30 days of notification by applying to TAR. The assistance of a solicitor for this appeal is necessary.
• An applicant, whose request of recognition or appeal to TAR is refused, must leave the Italian territory, unless he/she possesses an other residence title; in fact the refusal measure is normally given together with an invitation to leave the territory or an expulsion decree. So the foreigner who wants to appeal the refusal of asylum right must contest the expulsion decree at the same time.
• During procedures of recognition of asylum right, foreigner cannot be punished for irregular entry in Italian territory and cannot be expelled unless exceptional reasons of national security or public order should arise.

NOTE WELL The new procedure, that should be adopted in consequence of the law n° 189/02 (Bossi - Fini), even establishing that the applicant can not be detained simply to examine his request, states some (very discretional) cases in which detainment is allowed in specific "identification centers" in order to:

1. verify the nationality and the identity of the applicant if the applicant has no identity document or if it is supposed that his/her documents are false;
2. verify the reasons of the request if they are not immediately available;
3. confirm the Italian State competence on the case

Compulsory detention is provided if:

• the applicant has been stopped trying to avoid, or after avoiding, frontier controls and however if his residence is not regular;
• the applicant has been previously expelled or repelled (in these cases his detention will take place in the ordinary Temporary Permanence Centers)

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