Hearing of foreigners applying for the refugee status

During the procedure for granting the refugee status, an applicant shall be heard by the authority which conducts the proceedings, in order to explain the crucial facts for consideration of a matter and shall be provided with a copy of record of such hearing.

An applicant shall not be heard if:

• Rendering a decision on granting the refugee status is possible on the grounds of collected evidence,
• An applicant is not able to participate in the hearing or can not participate in the hearing because of his health state or psychological reasons,
• An applicant has indicated other reasons for submitting an application than well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, political opinion or belonging to determined social group or a risk of incurring a serious injury,
• An applicant has not given any information about circumstances connected with the well-founded fear of persecution or a risk of incurring a serious injury (a manifestly unfounded application), unless an applicant is an unaccompanied minor.

The hearing shall be carried out without the presence of a person on whose behalf the application is made by the applicant, unless the authority conducting the proceedings considers his/her presence as necessary in order to explain the matter.

The authority conducting the proceedings shall provide during the hearing free of charge assistance of interpreter having a good command of a language understandable for an applicant.

The authority conducting the proceedings  may record a course of hearing by means of audio-video equipment, if an applicant has been informed about it and there are no technical obstacles.