Practical Tool for Guardians - The asylum procedure
29
juin
2026

Practical Tool for Guardians - The asylum procedure

This guidance explains the role of a guardian assigned to a child during the screening and asylum procedure. It provides an overview of the different phases of the process and outlines a child’s legal rights throughout. The guidance includes topics such as lodging an application for international protection, preparing for the application interview and appealing against a negative decision. The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) have developed a series of practical tools for guardians of unaccompanied children with international protection needs.
Overview

EU law provides for the appointment of a representative for unaccompanied children applying for international protection and a guardian for children granted international protection. To facilitate reading, this tool refers to the term guardian for both figures. Guardians should be qualified and equipped to deal with the wide variety of laws and procedures that regulate asylum, migration or other issues they may need to engage with.

This tool aims to support guardians as well as trained individuals temporarily acting as guardians assigned to children while they are in the screening phase and in the asylum procedure. It includes an overview of the screening and of the asylum procedure with a specific focus on children, the guarantees in the asylum procedure and your role as a guardian in the different phases of the asylum process. 

There is also a section on what to do if something unexpected may happen, or if the age of the applicant is disputed. The tool contains boxes with practical tips for guardians and further reading materials.