Second and every following subsequent application Since September 2021, following relevant amendments to the IPA,786 each subsequent application after the first one is subject to a fee amounting to €100 per application, with the relevant provision being maintained under Article 94(10) Asylum Code. This amount may be revised through a Joint Ministerial decision. A Joint Ministerial Decision of the Ministers of Migration and Asylum and of Finance, which is in force since 1 January 2022, determined various issues concerning the implementation of the statutory provision (definitions, payment procedure, reimbursement of unduly paid fees etc.).787 The same Ministerial Decision foresees that if the application is submitted on behalf of several members of the applicant's family, the same fee is paid separately for each applicant, including minor children.788 Illustratively, a fivemember family composed of two parents and three minor children has to pay a fee of €500, to be able to submit a second or further subsequent application. National human rights bodies, including the Greek Ombudsperson and civil society organisations repeatedly called on the Minister of Migration and Asylum to abolish the aforementioned legislative regulation. At the time of the writing (February 2025) the fee remains a precondition for the registration. As noted by the Greek Ombudsperson,789 “linking the deposit of a fee with the submission of a subsequent application for international protection undermines exercise of the right to asylum, as enshrined in Article 18 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. A fee, and indeed one amounting to €100 […], constitutes the submission of a subsequent application almost prohibitive for a population that is in a vulnerable financial situation, as is the case with asylum applicants and contravenes Articles 40-42 of Directive 2013/32/EU”. As further noted in a joint statement by 10 civil society organisations, members of the Lesvos Legal Aid Actor sub-Working Group, the provision is also “in conflict with the provisions of Articles 25(2) and 20(1) of the Greek Constitution, Articles 47 and 52 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and relevant case law of the ECtHR regarding the provisions of Articles 3, 8 and 13 of the ECHR, as it effectively makes access to the asylum procedure impossible for those refugees who cannot afford to pay the €100 fee for each person/family member.”790 In the same statement, the organisations further flag the additional concerns arising in relation to applicants for international protection who have had their applications rejected as inadmissible, without ever having been examined on the merits, on account of the persistent application of the “safe third country” concept in the case of Türkiye and the persistent refusal of the Greek authorities to enforce Article 38(4) Directive 2013/32/EU (Article 91(5) Asylum Code), despite the ongoing lack of any reasonable prospect of readmission to Türkiye for now more than three years. As noted, with said practice impacting on Syrian nationals even before the introduction of the JMD designating Türkiye as a “safe third country” for specific nationalities (also see Safe Third Country), “there are cases of applicants who have not been able to access a safe legal status for [more than] four years, as they are constantly rejected on admissibility. […] the Administration must invite them to an oral hearing to assess the merits according to Article 91(5) of the Asylum Code and not to force them to apply for international protection for a third time and to pay a fee of €100”.791 The Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) have filed a judicial review petition before the Greek Council of State for the annulment of the aforementioned Joint Ministerial Decision. The date of the hearing was set for June 2022 but was subsequently postponed and took place in May 2024. A further annulment application was also filled by HIAS Greece and two families of individual applicants before the Council of State, which after several postponements as well, was also heard on May 2024. The decisions are pending at the time of writing this update (June 2025). 786 787 788 789 790 791 Article 89(10) IPA, as amended by Article by Article 23 L.4825/2021, available at: https://bit.ly/4d7ACSN. Joint Ministerial Decision 472687/ 21.12.2021, Gazette 6246/ B/ 27.12.2021 entered into force on 01 January 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3JQNj7f. , Article 1 (2) Joint Ministerial Decision 472687/2021. Greek Ombudsperson, Comments and observations on the draft law ‘Reform of deportation procedures and returns of third country nationals, attracting investors and digital media nomads, issues of residence permit and procedures for granting international protection and other provisions of the MoMA and Ministry of Citizen Protection, Document Prot. No 43/30.08.20201, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/22yp7m4h, p. 11. Joint statement by 10 civil society organizations-members of the Legal Aid Working Group of Lesvos, Imposition of a €100 fee for access to asylum from the 2nd and each further subsequent application to applicants for international protection, 2 March 2022, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/n2585h35. Ibid. 155