You can apply for asylum in Honduras in writing or orally:
- na National Institute of Migration (INM);
- At any INM border post (land, air or sea);
- If there is no INM office close to the town, you can go to the nearest National Police station.
When you report your intention to request protection as a refugee, the authorities will give you a form to fill out with your personal information and that of the family that is accompanying you on the trip.
If you are a minor (under 21 years of age) and traveling alone, you have the same right as adults to submit your application for refugee protection to the same authorities.
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It is important to know that immigration officers and police officers are required to:
Allow you to explain the reasons why you want to apply for protection;
Allow you to enter the territory of Honduras, and that under no circumstances can they return you to your country. Even if you do not bring your identity documents with you;
Help you, providing guidance to the authorities that should know your request;
Serve you, without destroying or altering your documents or charging you for any service.
Applicants for refugee status have the right not to be discriminated against for any reason. It is the right of each applicant to have their application considered individually, regardless of their physical appearance, skin color, nationality or ethnicity, age, gender, sexual preferences, or political opinions.
You should know that all the procedures related to the application process are completely free. No one can ask you for money, at any point in the process.
Where to apply for asylum in Honduras?
You can apply for asylum at the National Migration Institute, Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM).
The Delegation Coordination Unit and the Human Rights Management are the units of the National Migration Institute that are in charge of receiving requests for protection as a refugee in Honduras to later present them to the Refugee Commission.
INM Delegation Coordination Address: Colonia El Prado, Boulevard Kuwait, air passage passes in front, at the height of CEUTEC Prado. Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Phone: (+504)2235-7378
Hours: Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Human Rights Management Address: Toncontín Airport, in front of City Mall, next to National Mail, inside the office of the CAMI Toncontín Irregular Migrant Care Center.
Ekwentị: (+504) 2235-737
Hours: Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
To get to the main offices of the National Institute of Migration in Tegucigalpa, there are different ways:
If you are coming from the city center, you can take a collective taxi at the taxi point (Centro-Corte Suprema de Justicia, Mall Las Cascadas) which is on the corner next to Funeraria la Auxiliadora; in front of one of the entrances to the Midence Soto building. We recommend that you tell the taxi driver when you get into the vehicle that you are going to the INM and that you must take the route under the air passage; The INM offices will be on your right hand side at the CEUTEC Prado University.
If you are coming from Kuwait Boulevard, you can take a collective taxi outside the Mall Las Cascadas shopping center with the Mall Las Cascadas-Centro route and you must ask when you enter the taxi, go along the route under the air bridge and get off at the height of the CEUTEC Prado University shopping center. The INM offices will be on your left so you will have to cross the street and the median to get to the INM offices.
To get to the CAMI Toncontín offices of the National Migration Institute:
If you are coming from Centro, you can get on a small urban bus with capacity for 15-25 people (commonly called “quickies” in Honduras) with the Centro-CityMall, Loarque, Rio Grande, Los Robles route. You must get off at the CityMall shopping center, cross the boulevard street, and enter the airport through the entrance of the National Post Office of Honduras. If you are coming from the airport, you can leave through the airport parking lot on foot, and after passing the airport parking payment point, enter the National Post Office of Honduras on the right hand side.
What happens once I apply?
Provisional permit for asylum seeker
From the moment of your application, you will be considered an asylum seeker and the National Migration Institute (INM) will process you with a provisional permit as an asylum seeker, valid while an opinion is issued on whether your refugee status is recognized or not. .
Until your application has received a definitive response, the provisional permit will represent your official identification document in Honduras. With this document you will not be able to be detained, except in cases of committing a crime. Likewise, your provisional permit will guarantee your right not to be returned to the country where you are afraid to return.
N'ajụjụ ọnụ
Once you have submitted your application to the INM, the INM will notify you of the day and time to conduct an interview. The interview is your opportunity to explain in detail the reasons that forced you to leave your country of origin.
During the interview, the officers will ask for your information and that of your relatives. The INM will analyze and verify the information provided through your interview and your case will be analyzed by the Internal Commission for the Review, Analysis, and Dictament of Refuge Applications (CIRADR) known as the “Refuge Commission”, made up of other institutions national and international In no case may the INM request or share information with the authorities of your country of origin without your prior permission (including representations abroad such as consulates and embassies of your country in Honduras).
When the verification phase is over, the Refugee Commission will draw up an opinion, granting or denying refugee status. The INM will take care of notifying you of the decision of the Refugee Commission on the application for refugee status. In the event that refugee status has been recognized, you will be provided with a card that proves it.
Finally, it is important to note that not all asylum seekers qualify for refugee status. If your application is denied, you have the right to file an appeal for reconsideration of the decision. You could also be granted additional protection for humanitarian reasons.
Gụkwuo na refugees in Honduras.
Sources: Enyemaka UNHCR na Honduras
The cover image is somewhere in Chinacla, Chinacla, Honduras. Photo by Austin Park on Unsplash