The general asylum procedure

Have you arrived in the Netherlands by land? Then you apply for asylum through the general asylum procedure. You apply for this in the Dutch village of Ter Apel. Read here how this asylum procedure works.
Step-by-step plan
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Counter where refugees apply in Ter Apel
Source: IND
Article

You apply in Ter Apel

Last updated: 25/09/2024, 11:27

In order to apply for asylum in the Netherlands, report to the application centre in the village of Ter Apel. Here you apply for asylum with the IND and the Dutch police register your application.

Register with the IND

After your arrival in Ter Apel, you must register with the

Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND)
. The IND asks:

  • Your name

  • Your date of birth

  • Your country of origin

  • Which family members are travelling with you

  • What language you speak

  • Why you fled

You will receive a letter from the IND. This letter states the date you applied.

The interview with the police

When your turn comes, you can go to the police (

Department of Aliens Police, Identification and Human Trafficking, AVIM
) with the letter from the IND. You will then have an interview with the police. The police ask:

  • Your name

  • Your date of birth

  • Your place of birth

  • Whether you have relatives in the Netherlands

  • What language you speak

  • Why you fled

The police take pictures of you and take your fingerprints. The police record your information, photos and fingerprints in a Dutch national system: the

Basisvoorziening Vreemdelingen (BVV)
.

  • You get a number in this system. This is called '

    V-nummer
    '.

  • You will also receive a card with your passport photo, personal information and your 'V-nummer' on it. This card is called the

    W-document
    . Did you get a W-document before 11 September 2024? Then it is valid for 18 months. If you get a W-document on or after 11 September 2024, it is valid for 24 months.

  • You sign your asylum application at the police station. This is called the

    M35H form
    .

The police will also search your clothing and luggage. The police might confiscate your phone or other items to search. If the police seize your items, you will get a confirmation of this on paper. Look after this piece of paper carefully. You can pick up these things later with the paper.

This is how to submit documents to the IND during the asylum procedure

On this page you can read which documents you can submit to the IND. And how to submit them.
More information

Report to VluchtelingenWerk if you have not already been to the police

Sometimes there is time between your registration with the IND and the interview with the police. If you have not been to the police and also do not have an appointment to go to the police in Ter Apel or Budel, then visit

VluchtelingenWerk
. They have an office at your reception centre. VWN staff can inform the police that you are still waiting to be registered and that they should register you. 

Sometimes there are not enough places in reception centres

Also, sometimes there are not enough places in the reception centre in Ter Apel. Therefore, sometimes during your application process you will be taken to a

temporary reception centre
nearby. As the situation is now, you will stay there for several weeks. When it is your turn, you will be taken to either Ter Apel or Budel to complete your application process.

The application in Ter Apel may take a long time

Bear in mind that it can take a long time for the IND and the police to register you. The IND and the police are very busy. Both organisations do not have enough staff to process the number of asylum applications, and therefore the application process can take a long time.

The remainder of the steps in this series on the asylum process do not apply to you if:

You come from a country that the Dutch government says is safe:

The IND handles your asylum application in an accelerated procedure

Does the IND think you come from a safe country of origin? Then the accelerated asylum procedure applies to you. Read on this page what a safe country of origin means and what the accelerated procedure entails.
More information
The police see that you were previously registered in another European country:

The IND handles your asylum application in the Dublin procedure

Read more about the Dublin procedure on this page.
More information

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