DRC’s expertise as a legal aid actor on asylum & legal stay

Across regions and country operations, Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has decades of experience and expertise on legal aid, and on asylum procedures and legal stay linked to the need for international protection.

For conflict- and displacement-affected people legal stay in its various forms - be it refugee status, subsidiary/complementary protection, temporary protection, humanitarian protection, family reunification etc. – is the foundation that secures a regularised legal stay in a hosting State. But legal stay is also often the prerequisite for accessing a range of associated and important rights, such as family reunification, access to civil documentation, the labour market, education and/or health care, moving freely within the host country or renting or buying land/property.  

DRC assists people with legal aid by creating awareness of and sharing information about the different types of legal stay and the procedures for obtaining legal stay. 

Important factors to consider for an individual deciding whether to register as an asylum seeker or apply for other types of legal stay includes case processing times (which can amount to years), the rights attached to the residence permit, including the duration of the permit, access to family reunification and other rights. Thus, making the decision to register for asylum, or applying for other types of legal stay will have a great impact on the lives of forcibly displaced and legal aid is needed to make informed decisions, and to ensure successful applications.  

The note includes a ‘menu’ of expertise highlighting key areas of DRC competencies and expertise relating to legal aid in and around the asylum procedure and other types of legal stay. Finally, the note shares examples from DRC country operations of the different types of legal aid services DRC provides, but also how DRC engages to strengthen the legal environment for refugees and other forcibly displaced through advocacy, strategic litigation, engaging with human rights mechanisms, border monitoring, capacity building of duty bearers etc.