The Dublin Regulation (Dublin III came into force in 2013) determines the country that will have to process an Asylum Application. The country where the Asylum seeker has first entered within the EU will be responsible for processing of the asylum application. The responsibility bears upon that Member State for a period of one year from the date when the person made the irregular entry into the particular State.

However, if the person has been living in a Member State for five months before lodging the application for protection, or if the point of entry into the EU cannot be established, then the State where the person is located will have to process the application.

If the person had spent the minimum period of five months in several states, then the most-recent State would need to process the application.

The Regulation has been applied to transfer persons seeking international protection to the first State where they made their entry into the Union even when they had settled down in other States. This has led to people being deported to Italy or Greece where they made their landing into the EU. In effect, asylum seekers are not able to choose the country where they would like to seek asylum.