FAQ

With a B permit, you have recognised international protection status, meaning you are recognised as a refugee.

With an F permit, you are allowed to stay in Switzerland even though your asylum application was rejected.

B permit (recognised refugees): You receive a B permit if Switzerland officially recognises you as a refugee.

• Official confirmation that you face persecution in your country of origin
• Issuance of a residence permit
• Work authorisation
• Family reunification under certain conditions

F permit (temporary admission): Your asylum application was rejected, but for certain reasons you cannot currently be returned.

• Risk of torture or inhuman treatment in the country of origin
• Return would be unreasonable due to medical or other reasons
• Return is impossible because it is objectively not possible to send the person back to the country of origin

Important:

• You are not recognised as a refugee.
• The status is “temporary”, but it is often extended for years.
• Work authorisation.
• Family reunification is possible, but more difficult.

Unfortunately, payment does not change the likelihood that the court’s decision will still be negative. In its interim decision, the court has already conducted a preliminary assessment and concluded that there are no prospects of success, which is why it ordered the advance on costs. Therefore, payment has no influence on the outcome. We advise you not to pay the amount.

Unfortunately, it is also not possible to lodge an appeal against this interim decision.

The Dublin System is a regulation within Europe that determines which country is responsible for processing an asylum application.

It applies in the European Union and in some other countries, such as Switzerland.

A person should only have their asylum application processed in one country, not several.

In simplified terms, it works as follows: The country responsible is usually the one where the person first entered European territory and had contact with authorities or where fingerprints were registered.

• Filing of an asylum application
• Whether a visa or residence permit from a particular country is already held
• Whether close family members live in a particular country

Once a country has been assigned responsibility for an asylum procedure, this responsibility can only be overturned in very specific individual cases.

A Dublin decision means that another country in Europe is responsible for assessing your asylum application.

Under Swiss law, you have the right to appeal within 5 working days against a Dublin decision. Please discuss with the lawyer assigned to you whether an appeal has chancess of success.

If your assigned lawyer is not willing to submit an appeal for you and you assume that you have valid grounds for an appeal (such as evidence for severe human rights violations in case of a return), you should immediately reach out to a legal aid center or a private lawyer. Note that the deadline is very short and immediate action is required.

The Dublin system is a European agreement that decides which country is responsible for examining an asylum application.
Usually, it is the country where you first entered Europe.
Its goal is to avoid multiple applications in different countries, which often means that you are sent back to the first country you entered.

Unfortunately, under Swiss law you may submit one appeal only, so this decision is final and cannot be challenged anymore.

In very rare circumstances there is a possibility for a request for reconsideration – for this, convincing new evicence is required, which was not available before. If you have such new evidence (e.g. new medical reports), you should discuss your situation with a lawyer specialized in the field of asylum law (see list of legal aid centers).

If you received a negative asylum decision, you should immediately talk to your lawyer. Under Swiss law, you have a lawyer assigned to you for this who ist obliged to explain to you the decision and to submit an appeal for you if there are realistic chances of success.

If your assigned lawyer does no longer support you and you want to submit an appeal nevertheless, please reach out to a lawyer or legal aid agencies as soon as possible. Please note that appeal deadlines are very short, so you must act quickly. Once the deadline passed without submission of an appeal, the decision becomes final.

In Switzerland and in most other countries asylum applications need to be submitted written or orally while being in the respective country in person. For an asylum application in Switzerland, you have to go to a Federal Asylum Center. You can find the relevant addresses here.

Accordingly, a major challenge for most people who have to flee is to reach a place of safety with formal permission. Generally, countries offer hardly any legal pathways to safety, which is why many refugees decide to take on dangerous routes, crossing and entering countries without having formal permission to do so. Since the Geneva Refugee Convention disallows member states to criminalize seeking safety, such movements are not illegal though and must not be punished.

If you are still in your home country or in an insecure situation in a third country, you may not directly apply for asylum in Switzerland. We highly recommend to seek legal pathways to safety such as resettlement or relocation programs, humanitarian corridors, humanitarian or other visas – noting that there are only very few such possibilities.

Asyl kann bei der Grenzwache direkt an der Schweizer Grenze, am Flughafen oder in einem Bundesasylzentrum beantragt werden.