The Inaccessibility of the International Protection Procedure: Italy's Regional Administrative Court Rules Against the Vicenza and Venice Police Headquarters

Translated by Aurora Forlivesi

On 18 March 2026, the Veneto Regional Administrative Court (TAR) upheld the appeals filed by ASGI, Emergency, Lungo la Rotta Balcanica and CADUS against the police headquarters of Vicenza and Venice. At the heart of the ruling was the “direct, concrete and ongoing violation of the rights of foreign nationals seeking access to the international protection ì procedure”, caused by an inefficient system that effectively restricts their rights.
I due ricorsi collettivi, presentati il 7 marzo 2025, hanno portato a due pronunce che hanno accertato l'inaccessibilità della procedura per ottenere la protezione internazionale.

The two collective appeals, filed on 7 March 2025, resulted in two rulings confirming the inaccessibility of the procedure for obtaining international protection.

In Vicenza, asylum seekers faced delays of around 100 days before they could physically access the relevant police offices. Many had submitted their applications via certified email (PEC) but received no response for months. During the proceedings, the police headquarters reduced the average waiting time to around 60 days by hiring temporary staff and opening a dedicated help desk two mornings a week. While the Court acknowledged these improvements, it stressed that a 60-day wait still falls well short of the legal standard of 3 to 10 working days. It also found that the use of temporary staff was only a short-term measure rather than a structural solution, making it inadequate in the long run.

In Venice, anyone wishing to lodge an asylum application had to appear in person at the relevant police office during a limited morning time slot. The police headquarters accepted only a few applicants each day—often just two or three—while all others were asked to return on subsequent days. The authorities themselves acknowledged that the average time between the expression of intent to apply for asylum and the formal registration of the application was around 90 days, with waiting times previously reaching up to 180 days. The Ministry of the Interior attributed the situation to the sharp increase in asylum applications since 2021 and to staff shortages.

In both rulings, the Court reaffirmed that the 3-to-10-working-day deadline for the formal registration of an application for international protection, established under Article 26(2-bis) of Legislative Decree No. 25/2008, is intended to prevent asylum seekers from being left in a “grey zone.” In this situation, they are deprived of legal safeguards, lacking identification documents, access to healthcare, the possibility of regular employment, and facing the risk of expulsion from Italy.

Regarding staff shortages, the Court made clear that they cannot justify the systematic violation of the law. It held that it is the responsibility of the central administration to allocate the resources necessary to ensure the proper functioning of police offices.

The Ministry of the Interior now has 90 days to reorganise its services in compliance with the law. It must ensure that new asylum applications are processed within the statutory deadlines, clear the existing backlog in chronological order, facilitate physical access to police offices, and improve the procedures for registering expressions of intent to apply for international protection.

The impact of these rulings could extend beyond the Veneto region. Difficulties in accessing the asylum procedure are by no means limited to this area but are widespread across Italy. The Veneto Regional Administrative Court's decisions could therefore pave the way for similar rulings elsewhere, helping to restore legality to an asylum system that has proven inefficient nationwide.

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