Front view of the Schiphol Judicial Complex, where asylum seekers arriving in the Netherlands at an airport or port must await their asylum procedure.
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You will have a 1st interview with the IND during the asylum procedure at Schiphol Airport

Last updated: 28/10/2024, 10:02

The closed reception centre at Schiphol also houses an office of the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND). You will have the interviews with them about your asylum application. During the 1st interview, the IND will ask questions about you and about your flight to the Netherlands. And the IND checks whether your details are correct.

The IND asks this during the interview

During the interview, the

Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND)
checks that your information is correct. The IND will ask questions about you, your flight to the Netherlands and the composition of your family. The IND will not ask any further questions about the reasons for the first interview. You will get the chance to talk about this in detail in a 2nd interview.

There is an interpreter who speaks your language at the interview with the IND

The IND employee asks the questions in Dutch. The interpreter translates them for you. The interpreter also translates your answers into Dutch. The interpreter is independent, does not work for the IND and has no influence on the decision about your asylum application. As interpreters are very busy, you might get an interpreter who speaks a different dialect. Tell me immediately if the interpreter and you cannot understand each other properly. It is important that no misunderstandings arise because the interpreter and you do not understand each other well.

This is what you need to know to prepare

Your 1st interview with the IND is alone, without a lawyer. You will only get a lawyer just before the 2nd interview.

It is very important that you say the same thing in the 2nd interview with the IND as you did in the 1st interview. For example, about your family members. Be honest about your family members during the interview. If you later want to apply for family reunification, the IND will check if you talked about your family members during the interview.

During all spoken interviews with the IND, you are allowed to take notes. You can make a timeline to remember important dates. If you cannot remember a date, be honest with the IND. During the interview with the IND, you can hand in documents that support your story.

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

You may end up in a shorter procedure

Does the IND think you come from a

safe country of origin
? If so, there is a good chance you will not be granted asylum in the Netherlands. The IND will process your asylum application in a faster procedure. You will have only 1 interview with the IND. Then the IND will make a decision. This is called the accelerated asylum procedure. 

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

Does the IND think you have previously applied for asylum in another European country? Or that you have a residence permit for another EU country? Then the IND will process your application for asylum in the

Dublin procedure
. You only get 1 interview with the IND. After that, the IND makes a decision.

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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