| Road map for return |
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Assisted voluntary return – step by step Are you thinking of going back home? Are you reassessing your current situation in Slovakia and thinking of the possibility of returning home? Whatever your reasons may be, the program of assisted voluntary returns (AVR) can help you to return back to your country of origin. Within the AVR program, International Organization for Migration (IOM) provides services to migrants who happen to be in Slovakia without a valid stay permit, to migrants stuck in the transit area, to asylum seekers whose asylum application is pending or whose application was turned down – to all of you who want to go back home and need help. What do we offer?
Where can you find out more on assisted voluntary returns?
Kontakt:
Moreover, IOM organizes regular informative meetings in the police detention facilities for aliens as well as detention and asylum facilities of the Migration office. IOM staff, together with social workers in the facilities of the Ministry of Interior, provide group and individual counsel there to all individuals interested in assisted voluntary returns to the country of origin. I have decided to return home with IOM. What shall I do? I am in Slovakia illegally Call us on the anonymous IOM info-line 0850 211 262. We will give you basic information on assisted voluntary returns and arrange a meeting in an IOM office either in Bratislava or Košice. I am an asylum seeker If you are placed in an asylum facility or a detention camp of the Ministry of Interior, tell your social worker about your decision. Ask them to arrange an appointment with IOM for you. At the earliest possible occasion, the visiting IOM officer will tell you everything necessary about the assisted returns. Complete the IOM’s registration form to sign up for the program. An IOM officer will assist you with this when possible. If necessary, IOM will ensure an interpreter for easier communication and registration. If a meeting with an IOM officer is not viable, you can find the registration form on avr.iom.sk in the following languages: English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, Hindu, Persian, Arabic, Moldovan, Georgian, Armenian and Slovak. To complete the form, you can follow a specimen posted on avr.iom.sk. If you travel with other family members or minor children, you have to fill in their information as well. The registration form must be signed by an independent witness; most typically, this person would be an interpreter or a social worker (not a family member). Deliver the completed form either in person or by mail to the following address: IOM International Organization for Migration Do you have a valid travel document? YES, I do have a valid travel document. To leave Slovakia, you must have a valid travel document. Show your original travel document to the IOM officer who will check its validity and make a copy of it. NO, I do not have a valid travel document, what shall I do? If you do not have a valid travel document, IOM will help you to obtain a substitute travel document. To do this, IOM will work with your country’s embassy, therefore your cooperation and providing correct details to us are very important. IOM officer or a social worker will help you complete a form to apply for substitute travel documents at your country’s embassy. To issue the actual substitute travel document, 4 passport photographs must be attached to the form and a copy of a document proving your identity with a photograph (ID card, driving license, birth certificate, or passport). Your relatives can send or fax you a copy of such a proof of identity to IOM fax number 00421 2 5263 0093. Issuance of your substitute travel documents is fully in the hands of your country’s embassy. It will verify your identity and issue a substitute travel document within a given time period. IOM has no influence on the embassy’s decision or length of the issuance procedure. Fast verification of your identity depends on true and accurate information you provide. If the embassy fails to verify your identity, it may not issue substitute travel document for you and thus you will not be able to return to your country of origin. A substitute travel document is valid for a limited time only and serves just for the purpose of returning to your country of origin. IOM will cover any cost connected with issuing of a substitute travel document for you. What does preparation of your departure include? After registering you in the assisted voluntary returns program IOM sends a request to the Bureau of Border and Alien Police for an approval of your inclusion in the program. As soon as the approval comes in writing normally within a few days, IOM books you a flight ticket. If you are placed in one of the asylum or detention facilities of the Ministry of Interior, IOM informs social workers there of the date of your departure. Social workers will then mediate all the necessary information regarding your departure. Your task is to pack things you want to take with you – the price of flight ticket includes your luggage as well. However, it is necessary to respect the rules for passenger luggage transport applicable to all departures from the European Union regardless of destination. You can check the status of preparations for your departure until the day when you depart, simply by calling our green line 0850 211 262, or in person at the IOM’s offices in Bratislava and Košice, or from IOM officers during their visits to the asylum and detention facilities of the Ministry of Interior. What does departure day look like? I am in Slovakia illegally It is your responsibility to arrive at the airport, whether by bus or train. At the airport, the IOM officer will reimburse you for your travel ticket from the place of your stay to the airport after you present it as a proof of your travel costs. IOM will not cover fuel expenses if you arrive at the airport by car. Important: Travel expenses can be repaid only after original travel tickets are presented. I am an asylum seeker Transport from the asylum or detention facility to the airport on the departure day will be secured by the Ministry of Interior. An IOM officer will be awaiting you at the airport. He will guide you all the way through to the transit area and help you with all the procedures at passport control and luggage check-in. At the airport, the IOM officer will also give you your flight ticket, travel documents and a plastic IOM bag in case you change planes in a transfer country. You will be travelling as a regular tourist; flight crew will not be informed of the character of your return. What is the process with return through a third (transfer) country? Changing planes at huge international airports can be time-demanding and stressful. To avoid potential problems, an IOM officer from that country will be there to assist you. He will identify you according to the plastic IOM bag so please hold it visibly. Do you provide any assistance after return to the country of origin? If you requested so in the registration form, an IOM officer will be awaiting you in your country of origin and he will ensure your transport from the airport all the way to your home. FormsImportant! Instructions for packing your luggage: You can take a maximum of 20 kg per passenger (for checked-in luggage) and one piece of on-board luggage not exceeding 6 kg (including an umbrella, handbag, clothes) and no bigger than 56 x 45 x 25 cm. If the luggage exceeds weight limits, additional fee applies which IOM does not cover. Therefore it is in your best interest to weight your luggage before going to the airport. It is strictly forbidden to take the following items on board: items that could be used for stabbing, slashing or cutting (weapons or weapon replicas, knives, blades, scissors, drills, (cork)screws, tweezers, files, etc.), any items and explosive, combustive, chemical and toxic substances that can cause injury (baseball bats, golf clubs, hockey sticks, fishing rods, explosive and combustive materials – fireworks, pyrotechnics, alcoholic beverages over 70% vol., petrol, oil, liquid lighters, alcohol, ethanol, fuses and detonators, butane, propane, acetylene, acids, corrosives, e.g. tear gas, pepper spray, poisons). Such items will be taken from you during luggage control. Very strict rules apply to liquids. Liquids include: water, soups, syrups, creams, lotions and oils, perfumes, toothpastes, etc. You can take on board with you only a small amount of liquids. The maximum volume of a single package may be 100 milliliters (1 dcl). Liquids must be packed in a see-through re-sealable bag no bigger than 1 liter of volume. Exempt from this rule are liquids to be consumed during the flight and medications if the health conditions require so, or baby food. In such a case, passengers must present a medical certificate (recommendation from a medical doctor) or present another proof that their health condition requires that they take liquids on board with them. Otherwise any such liquids and items should be placed in the checked-in luggage. |
