Dublin Procedure
The Dublin Procedure establishes which European State is responsible for examining an asylum application.
The Dublin Procedure was set up in order to ensure that the content of every asylum application that is lodged in the EU, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland is examined. This ensures that only one Member State examines the asylum application. The intention is to prevent those who wish to apply for asylum from making multiple applications within the European Union.
How the procedure works
When a Member State establishes that an asylum application is to be processed in a different Member State, its submits a transfer request to the Member State concerned. If the latter agrees to the case being transferred, the applicant receives a letter to this effect. The lodging of an appeal against this does not have the effect of suspending the transfer request unless the law of the country concerned would result in a different outcome in individual cases.
The Member States subsequently agree the conditions of the transfer. If the transfer is not implemented within six months, responsibility for the procedure is passed to the Member State that has requested the transfer. If the applicant goes into hiding or finds himself in prison, this period can be extended.
Regulation replaced the Dublin Convention
The "Regulation establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national" (Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 – Dublin Procedure) entered into force on 18 February 2003 and replaced the Dublin Convention. The countries in which this regulation represents directly-applicable law are all of the EU Member States as well as Norway, Iceland and Switzerland.
This regulation is implemented within the Federal Office by division 430 (Management of the Dublin Procedure, EURODAC and acceptance procedures) and division 431 (Implementation of the Dublin Procedure).
Further information on the Dublin procedure and current figures on requests for cases to be accepted or for transfers under the Dublin procedure are provided by the brochure entitled "Asyl in Zahlen" (Asylum in Figures), which you can download.
