What options do you have if your asylum application has been rejected by the Police and Border Guard Board?
If the Police and Border Guard Board refuses to grant you international protection, you have two options – either to appeal the decision or leave Estonia.
Precept to leave
A negative asylum decision is normally issued together with a precept to leave (expulsion order), in accordance with the Obligation to Leave and Prohibition on Entry Act. The precept to leave cannot be enforced until the asylum decision is final. The decision is considered final if it has not been appealed or when the Administrative Court has dismissed an appeal against it.
The precept to leave can include a deadline for voluntary compliance with the obligation to leave, or it can be immediately enforceable after the asylum decision has entered into force. The deadline for voluntary compliance is not set, for example, if the Police and Border Guard Board considers that there is a risk of escape, or the asylum-seeker has submitted false information or falsified documents in asylum proceedings.
Entry ban
According to the Obligation to Leave and Prohibition on Entry Act, a regular precept to leave includes an entry ban for three years, unless the Police and Border Guard Board considers it disproportionate. Where the precept to leave is immediately enforceable, the entry ban is set at five years.
The Supreme Court has confirmed that consideration must be given in each individual case on whether to impose an entry ban and whether the entry ban’s duration is proportional. For the same reason, due consideration must also be given on why a term for voluntary leaving has not been given to a person, as this imposes an imperative entry ban. The Supreme Court has further stressed that these decisions need to include reasoned justification from the Police and Border Guard Board.
Voluntary return
If you wish to voluntarily return to your home country, you must coordinate your departure with the Police and Border Guard Board. For support and assistance, you have the option of contacting the International Organization for Migration (IOM) office in Estonia. The IOM’s Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration programme offers information and counselling regarding return, help with organising travel and purchasing travel tickets, and also possible reintegration support in your home country.
If you have left within the term for voluntary compliance under the obligation to leave, you have the option to apply for the revocation of the entry ban by submitting an application and the relevant evidence to the Police and Border Guard Board. The Police and Border Guard Board forwards the application and evidence to the Ministry of the Interior for making any decision on the revocation or suspension of an entry ban.
Appeal
If you do not wish to leave voluntarily, you have the chance to file an appeal to the Administrative Court against the decision of the Police and Border Guard Board. You have the right to stay in Estonia until the Administrative Court makes a decision. Subsequently, you need to apply for the court’s permission if you wish to stay in Estonia until the end of the court proceedings in all court instances. Read more about the appeal procedure.
Expulsion
If your appeal is unsuccessful and you no longer have a legal ground to stay in Estonia, your precept to leave may be enforced, using detention and expulsion. In this case, you will not be detained as an asylum-seeker, but as an irregular migrant, as your status changes after the Police and Border Guard Board’s decision becomes final. Read more about detention in the immigration context.