Post Recognition Status
Under the pre 2004 ICRRA a person recognized as a refugee did not automatically obtain residency rights. Therefore, if at the time of recognition the person’s stay was illegal or they had a short-term visa, an application still had to be submitted to the MoJ for a long-term residence permit. The revised 2004 ICRRA (Article 61-2-2) streamlines this process and states that when the Minister of Justice recognizes an applicant as a refugee he “shall” also grant Long Term Residence status (LTR) at the same time. However, the granting of such a permit will be subject to two conditions: (i) in the absence of “unavoidable circumstances”, they must have applied for asylum within six months of arrival or knowledge of events relevant to the grant of refugee status, and (ii) they must have come “directly from a territory where their life, physical being or physical freedom was likely to be persecuted” due to reasons set out in Article 1A(2) of the Convention.