Registration is the administrative formality in which a person declares wanting to request asylum. It is during this procedure that the registration team records, verifies and updates information on people forced to flee. The access for registration is unrestricted. During the appointment, Registration staff assist the applicants to complete the form. Relevant personal information is entered into the UNHCR database (basic bio-data, core registration data and some supplementary data); all applicants receive an asylum seeker certificate for the duration of one year to six months depending on the case, as well as an appointment for Refugee Status Determination (RSD) and a briefing about rights and obligations as asylum seekers in Algeria.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Algeria conducts Refugee Status Determination (RSD). This is the administrative process by which UNHCR-Algiers determines whether a person seeking international protection is considered a refugee under international and regional instruments. In order to be granted refugee status, you must meet the definition of a refugee set out in the 1951 Refugee Convention as amended by its 1967 protocol. When evaluating an application, UNHCR also has to take into consideration the regional instruments providing the definition of a refugee. For instance, the Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa contains a broader definition of the term “refugee”. However, a refugee can also be defined as any person who,

“owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order in either part or the whole of his country of origin or nationality, is compelled to leave his place of habitual residence in order to seek refuge in another place outside his country of origin or nationality.”