Hungary
and detailed interviews concurrently. During the interviews, applicants have access to
interpretation services. If the claimant is an unaccompanied child, a case guardian is
appointed who represents the child’s interests in the hearing. The applicant receives a
temporary residence certificate for the duration of the procedure if the person does not
have authorization to reside in the country. In practice, however, the immigration
authority does not issue temporary residence certificates for the purposes of conducting
the SDP to all persons in immigration detention or subject to expulsion proceedings.
The applicant is required by law to “prove or substantiate” his or her statelessness
status by, inter alia, establishing place of birth, place of prior permanent or habitual
residence, and the nationality of parents and family members. The term “substantiate”
indicates a lower standard of proof than is the case in, for example, criminal procedures.
The case worker will take into consideration documents shared by the applicant without
requesting that these documents are officially translated and certified, as would usually
be the case in other administrative procedures under the Aliens Act.
The burden of proof in establishing statelessness is shared in that the Hungarian
authorities are to provide administrative assistance to establish relevant facts if the
applicant so requests, for example, by contacting foreign authorities to supplement the
facts provided by the applicant. UNHCR may participate at any stage of the
proceedings, at the request or with the consent of the applicant. UNHCR may provide
administrative assistance to the applicant and the immigration authority shares both the
administrative and the court decisions with UNHCR.
The examiners are to reach a decision on a statelessness status application within 60
days. This can be extended by an additional 21 days by the head of the alien policing
authority. However, the law allows the proceeding authority to suspend, without
limitation, the procedure if another authority (e.g., the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or a
foreign body) needs to be contacted for further information. As this is common in SDPs,
it often takes longer than the stipulated number of days in practice.
Individuals who are recognized as stateless are granted a humanitarian residence
permit that is valid for a maximum of three years and which can be extended by oneyear periods. After five years, or in specific cases after three years, the stateless person
is eligible to apply for permanent residence status and can thereby establish a domicile.
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U N H C R > G P P AC T I O N 6 : E S TA B L I S H I N G S TAT E L E S S N E S S D E T E R M I N AT I O N P R O C E D U R E S