Evidence produced or submitted by an asylum-seeker regarding their case is not COI, as this is considered testimony. COI is also not a legal strategy, nor does it contain the COI researcher’s opinion or interpretation.

You can see examples of our COI reports in our database. Please make sure you have consulted the database before requesting a report in case your query has already been answered.

An Asylos COI report is a collection of organised quotations from existing (and in most cases, publicly available) source material relevant to the questions posed by the person requesting the report. All quotations are cited, contain the original publication date and are traceable through weblinks. We organise quotations by topic and introduce them in short paragraphs that flag any convergence or divergence between these sources, as well as any notable source limitations.

Anyone who is helping refugees, asylum-seekers, or protection claimants through the refugee status determination procedure may register for access to consult our resources and make a request. You will need to provide basic evidence upon registration of your role as an immigration services advisor.

Our resources are available free of charge, however we depend on your donations in order to continue. Please consider making a donation in GBP or in EUR.

You can see examples of our COI reports in our database. Please make sure you have consulted the database before requesting a report in case your query has already been answered.

An Asylos COI report is a collection of organised quotations from existing (and in most cases, publicly available) source material relevant to the questions posed by the person requesting the report. All quotations are cited, contain the original publication date and are traceable through weblinks. We organise quotations by topic and introduce them in short paragraphs that flag any convergence or divergence between these sources, as well as any notable source limitations.

In some refugee host countries, such as the UK, asylum tribunals consult approved and vetted ‘Country Experts’, generally with academic credentials, who are legal officials and whom they rely upon to provide their opinion on specific countries and/or topics. These individuals tend to charge for their services, and as such are not necessarily available to all protection claimants. In contrast, Asylos reports compile information which already exists and Asylos does not provide interpretation or opinion.

Our reports contain information which is considered relevant, timely, and reliable and they are researched in a way that makes them balanced, neutral, and objective. As such, we consult a wide variety of source material, including reports from NGOs, governments, and supranational bodies; local, national, and international news sources; and social media, amongst a wide range of sources.

The lawyers and caseworkers with whom we work use our reports in a variety of ways. Some use the report for their own reference to construct an argument, some make selections from the report and submit these, and some choose to submit reports to immigration courts and tribunals in full. Sometimes lawyers and caseworkers use our report as a starting point and instead submit the original sources in a dossier of evidence. How you use them is up to you, as long as you are using them to support asylum seekers and protection claimants through their legal procedure.

It is essential that you provide as much detail as possible regarding your client’s situation. Remember, our researchers are not familiar with your client’s case, and will need to know exactly what kind of information they are supposed to be looking for. It is also important to make clear what you already know or have evidence of, so that we don’t duplicate your work. Please be sure to highlight any information regarding potential vulnerabilities of your client, such as being a minor, being female and/or suffering from diseases. Please refrain from including any information which might identify your client unless it is essential to your research request, and never share any information about your client’s case that you do not have permission to share.

Note that after you have submitted a request, we may need further information from you, and will not necessarily be able to commence research until our team coordinators have heard back from you.

Research questions are specific questions which you need our researchers to answer and which encompass your client’s situation. These may have to do with: the state’s tendency to cause harm to its citizens based on a specific risk profile, the relevant national legislation intended to protect your client and its efficacy, the ability or willingness of the state to protect against non-state persecution, and/or the possibility of internal relocation.

COI research questions should NOT ask for a risk assessment, as Asylos cannot conduct these. Nor should they ask ‘can you prove my client is in danger from X?’. Rather, research questions should be neutrally worded, and ask for the facts regarding your client’s situation. Further information can be found in Chapter 3 of the the ACCORD research handbook, or if you are unsure about your questions feel free to get in touch on info@asylos.eu to ask for guidance.

Asylos has a rigorous recruitment process which ensures that our researchers are highly skilled in conducting COI research and undergo training and testing during the onboarding process. Reports are peer reviewed by experienced team coordinators before submission and randomly audited by our expert legal team. We collect regular feedback to stay up to date on our clients’ requirements and regularly conduct investigations into the legal situation for asylum and immigration lawyers in the countries for which we produce reports.

Once you submit a request, we review it to make sure it meets our guidelines, and then the request goes to the relevant team’s coordinators to accept.

The coordinators will probably be in touch to request more information while they find researchers with the relevant skills to work on your case request. You will need to respond to their questions in order for the research to be completed, and your report will be sent to you by the coordinators on or before your stipulated deadline. Completion of the report is dependent on your responsiveness, as we cannot conduct research without your input, so please schedule enough time to have a discussion with us about your request.

After you receive your report, you will need to complete our feedback form twice – once right after you receive the report, and once after the case is complete in order to tell us the final outcome. It is essential that this feedback is completed, as it helps us both understand our impact and adapt our processes to better suit your needs. Please note that failure to complete feedback could result in suspension from the platform.

We ask for a minimum deadline of 5 weeks. If your deadline is necessarily shorter than that, please let us know why so that we can attempt to prioritise it.

If your deadline is flexible, please also indicate that.

For general enquiries, please contact info@asylos.eu. If you have already submitted a research request and would like to discuss the case, please contact the coordinators of the relevant regional team. The coordinator in question will have usually been in touch with you to confirm receipt of your request and to keep you updated about progress.