A tourist can request political asylum?

Question

Some countries like Uruguay accept political asylum request ONLY if the person enters the country illegally, for those with tourist visa they have a way more complex mechanism. But generally speaking, since each country is a micro universe in laws, is it possible for a tourist to request political asylum? Or there are other ways for a tourist to permanently migrate to the visiting country?

Answer 1

The answer is "it depends," of course.

• An asylum application may be considered less credible if the applicant entered as a tourist. The applicant would have to explain what changed between the time of entry and the time of the asylum application. (Perhaps a change of government at home? The start of a civil war?)
• Many countries expect applications for a work permit to be made from outside. Such an application may take much longer to process than a tourist visa, which makes the stay as a tourist problematic.

On the other hand, there are countries which allow some tourists to file immigration applications. For instance, Canadian citizens and some others can apply for a German residence permit while they are in Germany.

Answer 2

But generally speaking, since each country is a micro universe in laws, is it possible for a tourist to request political asylum? Or there are other ways for a tourist to permanently migrate to the visiting country?

Generally speaking, we may look to the refugee convention, including the 1967 protocol, which provides protections that do not depend on how the person seeking protection entered the country. Any country applying this convention must permit someone who entered as a tourist to remain as a refugee provided the person can show that the convention's definition of "refugee" applies, (keeping in mind that the convention explicitly excludes those who have committed various classes of serious crime from its protection).

Notably, the convention provides

The Contracting States shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees who, coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of article 1, enter or are present in their territory without authorization, provided they present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence.

This of course does not create an obligation for someone to enter illegally in order to apply for asylum. But someone who arrives with a tourist visa should apply for asylum at the point of entry instead of applying for admission as a tourist.

Someone who has entered as a tourist, however, must be allowed to apply for asylum if circumstances change during the visit, for example because of a political change in the person's country of nationality.