Chapter III, Section II, Article 35 · Regulation (EU) 2024/1348

Contents

Article 35Duration of the examination procedure#

1.The examination to determine whether an application is inadmissible in accordance with Article 38 (1), points (a), (b), (c) and (d), and Article 38(2) shall be concluded as soon as possible and no later than two months from the date on which the application is lodged.In the case referred to in Article 38(1), point (e), the determining authority shall conclude the examination within ten working days.The application shall not be deemed to be admissible solely by reason of the fact that no decision on inadmissibility is taken within the time limits set out in this paragraph and in paragraph 2.

2.The determining authority may extend the time limits provided for in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 by no more than two months where:

(a)a disproportionate number of third-country nationals or stateless persons make an application for international protection within the same period of time, making it unfeasible to conclude the admissibility procedure within the set time limits;

(b)complex issues of fact or law are involved;

(c)the delay can be attributed clearly and solely to the failure of the applicant to comply with his or her obligations under Article 9.

3.The determining authority shall conclude the accelerated examination procedure as soon as possible and no later than three months from the date on which the application is lodged.

4.The determining authority shall ensure that an examination procedure on the merits, provided that it is not an accelerated examination procedure, is concluded as soon as possible and no later than six months from the date on which the application is lodged, without prejudice to an adequate and complete examination.

5.The determining authority may extend the time limit of six months referred to in paragraph 4 by a period of not more than six months where:

(b)complex issues of fact or law are involved;

(c)the delay can be attributed clearly and solely to the failure of the applicant to comply with his or her obligations under Article 9.

6.Where an applicant is subject to a transfer procedure as laid down in Article 46 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1351, the time limit referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article shall start to run from the date on which the application is lodged in accordance with Article 28(2).

7.The determining authority may postpone concluding the examination procedure where it cannot reasonably be expected to decide within the time limits laid down in paragraph 4 due to an uncertain situation in the country of origin which is expected to be temporary. In such cases, the determining authority shall:

(a)conduct reviews of the situation in that country of origin at least every four months;

(b)where available, take into account reviews of the situation in that country of origin carried out by the Asylum Agency;

(c)inform the applicants concerned, in a language which they understand or are reasonably supposed to understand and as soon as possible, of the reasons for the postponement.

The Member State shall inform the Commission and the Asylum Agency as soon as possible of the postponement of procedures for that country of origin. In any event, the determining authority shall conclude the examination procedure within 21 months from the lodging of an application.

8.Member States shall lay down time limits for the conclusion of the examination procedure in cases where a court or tribunal annuls the decision of the determining authority and refers the case back. Those time limits shall be shorter than the time limits set out in this Article.

Defined terms · 20

Show every defined term

adequate capacity
means the capacity required at any given moment to carry out the asylum border procedure, and the return border procedure established pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2024/1349 or, where applicable, an equivalent return border procedure established under national law;
applicant
means a third-country national or a stateless person who has made an application for international protection in respect of which a final decision has not yet been taken;
applicant in need of special procedural guarantees
means an applicant whose ability to benefit from the rights and comply with the obligations provided for in this Regulation is limited due to individual circumstances, such as specific vulnerabilities;
application
means a request for protection from a Member State made by a third-country national or a stateless person who can be understood to be seeking refugee status or subsidiary protection status;
biometric data
means biometric data as defined in Article 2, point (s), of Regulation (EU) 2024/1358;
determining authority
means any quasi-judicial or administrative body in a Member State responsible for examining applications for international protection and competent to take decisions under the administrative procedure;
examination of an application for international protection
means an examination of the admissibility or the merits of an application for international protection in accordance with this Regulation and Regulation (EU) 2024/1347;
final decision
means a decision on whether or not a third-country national or stateless person is granted refugee status or subsidiary protection status pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2024/1347, including a decision rejecting the application as inadmissible or a decision rejecting an application as implicitly or explicitly withdrawn, which is no longer subject to a remedy under the framework of Chapter V of this Regulation or has become final in accordance with national law, irrespective of whether the applicant has the right to remain in accordance with this Regulation;
international protection
means refugee status or subsidiary protection status;
Member State responsible
means the Member State responsible for the examination of an application in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1351.
minor
means a third-country national or stateless person below the age of 18 years;
person eligible for subsidiary protection
means a third-country national or a stateless person who does not qualify as a refugee but in respect of whom substantial grounds have been shown for believing that that person, if returned to his or her country of origin or, in the case of a stateless person, to his or her country of former habitual residence, would face a real risk of suffering serious harm as defined in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347, and to whom Article 17(1) and (2) of that Regulation does not apply, and is unable or, owing to such risk, unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country;
refugee
means a third-country national who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, is outside the country of nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country, or a stateless person who, being outside of the country of former habitual residence for the same reasons as mentioned, is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it, and to whom Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 does not apply;
refugee status
means the recognition by a Member State of a third-country national or a stateless person as a refugee in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1347;
remain in the Member State
means to remain on the territory, including at the border or in transit zones, of the Member State in which the application for international protection has been made or is being examined;
stateless person
means a person who is not considered to be a national by any State under the operation of its law;
subsequent application
means a further application for international protection made in any Member State after a final decision has been taken on a previous application, including cases in which the application has been rejected as explicitly or implicitly withdrawn;
subsidiary protection status
means the recognition by a Member State of a third-country national or a stateless person as a person eligible for subsidiary protection in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1347;
unaccompanied minor
means a minor who arrives on the territory of the Member States unaccompanied by an adult responsible for him or her, whether by law or practice of the Member State concerned, and for as long as that minor is not effectively taken into the care of such an adult, including a minor who is left unaccompanied after he or she has entered the territory of the Member States;
withdrawal of international protection
means a decision by a determining authority or a competent court or tribunal to revoke or end, including by refusing to renew, international protection, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1347;