On Wednesday 5 June 2024, the government approved Proposal of the Ministry of the Interior for amendments to Act No 480/2002 Coll. on Asylumrelating to asylum procedures and the provision of temporary shelter. According to Minister Matúš Šutaj Estok, the aim is to improve and streamline the processes related to the granting of protection to third-country nationals on the territory of the Slovak Republic.

"Free accommodation will be provided for a period of 120 days to first-time refugees who have received temporary shelter on our territory. After this period, it will only be provided to vulnerable persons. The amount of the allowance granted shall be Do not change," said the Minister of the Interior. The government will therefore now negotiate in such cases only the amount of the allowance granted, not on the extension of its provision. 

Provision of an accommodation allowance for leavers:

The allowance will only be granted under certain conditions, including restrictions on kinship and ownership of real estate in the territory of the Slovak Republic. It will be granted 120 days from the first provision of temporary shelter in the Slovak Republic. For longer periods of time, the expatriate's accommodation allowance will be available in the case of accommodation:

• members of a household receiving assistance in material need,
• a person with a severe disability who receives a grant in support of humanitarian aid,
• a person who has reached the age of 65,
• of a child under 5 years of age,
• a single parent caring for a child under 5 years of age or a person who is personally caring for a child under 5 years of age on the basis of a court order.

Similar rules are proposed for the accommodation of deportees in the asylum facilities of the Migration Office of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, but they will apply to a narrower range of persons.

The Ministry of Transport will no longer provide accommodation allowance under the Tourism Promotion Act.

The procedure for granting temporary refuge is also simplified if the procedure was initiated by the birth of a child in the territory of the Slovak Republic. a refugee or a foreigner requesting temporary shelter. The following shall also be added new grounds for dismissal temporary refuge and asylum procedures. In the case of repeated applications for asylum also specifies a "substantial change in the factual situation".

A child born on the territory of the Slovak Republic to an applicant, asylum-seeker or foreigner who has been granted subsidiary protection and who acquires the citizenship of another Member State of the European Union by birth shall no longer bewill be considered an applicant directly by law and the asylum procedure will not even start.

The bill will be subject to an accelerated legislative procedure, with its entry into force on 1 July 2024. 

Source: press releases of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic [minv.sk]