Ex-post control Federal Asylum Office disrespects right to private and family life In family proceedings, the Federal Asylum Office also prevented or delayed the entry of relatives during the reporting year. This violates the constitutionally guaranteed right to respect for private and family life. Article 8 ECHR obligates the state to respect family life. The Asylum Act (Asylgesetz) enables relatives of individuals entitled to asylum or subsidiary security to apply for entry at the Austrian representation authority abroad. Family members must be granted the entry visa if the Federal Asylum Office informs the embassy that relatives are likely to be granted the same security as the person approved for asylum. According to the Asylum Act (Asylgesetz), the term “relative” only includes the spouse, unmarried children who are minors, as well as the parents of an unmarried child who is a minor. No reference to DNA analysis In July 2012, the wife and daughter of a refugee whose status was acknowledged in Austria applied to the Austrian Embassy in Nairobi for a family consolidation. The father did not state during the asylum process in 2010 that he had a daughter. He only learnt that she was born later on. The Federal Asylum Office doubted the family relationship and made a negative decision. The AOB’s objection was that the Federal Asylum Office neither asked Mr N.N. about the contradictions nor gave him an option to prove his paternity by DNA analysis. The AOB identified another violation of Article 8 ECHR in another case of family proceedings. Even though the Austrian Embassy at Addis Abeba had already suggested DNA tests when passing on the application, the Federal Asylum Office only asked the representation authority to inform the applicant of this four months later. The person granted for asylum was also only informed later. Subsequent steps in the proceedings were also sluggish. More information for affected parties In response to an earlier case (see annual report of 2012), the Federal Ministry of the Interior stated that the course of action of the Austrian representation authority in the proceedings had changed according to Section 35 of the Asylum Act (Asylgesetz). The Federal Ministry of the Interior implemented an opinion by the Administrative Court of Austria (dated 13 December 2012, 2012/12/0211-5) according to which the asylum authority is obligated to notify the applicants if an application is rejected. The representation authorities now only inform applicants in writing if the Federal Asylum Office releases a negative statement and state the reasons for the rejection. In addition, it sends a notification that reapplication is possible at any time. Individual cases: VA-BD-I/0113-C/1/2013, BMI-LR2240/0092-III/5/2013; I/0475-C/1/2012, BMI-LR2240/0691-III/5/2012, I/0099-C/1/2012, BMILR2240/0418-II/3/2013 44