Facts
The case concerns the question of who is considered a refugee or stateless person within the meaning of the Federal Act on Old Age and Survivors' Insurance (AHVG) and the Federal Resolution on the Legal Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons in Old Age, Survivors' and Disability Insurance (FlüB), and thus entitled to ordinary AHV pensions.
The Federal Social Insurance Office had required confirmation from the Delegate for Refugee Affairs on the status as a recognized refugee or stateless person in order to justify the applicability of the FlüB. The Administrative Court of the Canton of Graubünden had considered this practice to be unlawful.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court decided that the administrative instructions of the Federal Social Insurance Office, according to which the status as a refugee or stateless person must be proven by a confirmation from the Delegate for Refugee Affairs, are lawful.
According to the Asylum Act, foreigners who are seriously disadvantaged in their country of origin or in the country where they last resided due to their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, or who have a well-founded fear of being exposed to such disadvantages, are considered refugees. The decision on whether an asylum seeker meets the refugee status is made by the Federal Office for Police Matters.
Stateless persons are persons to whom no state grants…