The International Commission on Civil Status, in order to extend international administrative co-operation between the member States to asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their request,

Recommends that the member States of the International Commission on Civil Status be guided by the following principles, approved by the General Assembly of the International Commission on Civil Status in Patras:

1. When one member State requests information from another member State concerning the identity or civil status of an asylum seeker who is in its territory and awaiting a decision on his or her request, the request for information and the reply thereto shall be made, free of charge, by means of a multilingual form of which a model (Appendix 1) and directions for its use (Appendix 2) are appended to this Recommendation.

2. In no event may such a request be submitted to the asylum seeker's State of origin. In respect of any other State, the requesting State shall refrain from submitting such a request whenever doing so would be liable to affect the safety of the asylum seeker or members of his or her family.

Appendix 1
Appendix 2