Seeking asylum in the Netherlands has a long and extended procedure. The criteria for accepting someone is written in several laws and treaties such as the "Nederlandse Vreemdelingenwet", "het internationale Vluchtelingenverdrag" or "het Europees verdrag van de Rechten van de Mens (EVRM)". Furthermore thorough research is done on the Political situation in the country, Previous important events, culture and religion and more. All of this combined decides wether a refugee is allowed to stay in the country. Below you can see a step by step procedure on how refugee's seek asylum.
Step 1 - Registration
To seek asylum in the Netherlands the refugee has to register itself at the Ter Apel centrum in Groningen. During the registration a employee of the vreemdelingen politie notes down your details, makes a pasport sized photo and takes your fingerprints. He also checks the luggage of the Asylum Seeker and documents such as passports, flight tickets, school diplomas which are taken in for further research. If you come to the Netherlands by air or sea you need to register yourself at the Koninklijke Marechaussee.
Step 2 - Preparation Period
After the registration there is a minimum break of six days in which the Immigration Department process all the information taken in, in the previous stage. In this period the refugee gets information about the procedure, they get in touch with a lawyer and they go through a medical health check. During the preparation period the refugee stays close to the office of IND where they applied for the asylum, most likely "Ter Apel".
Step 3 - First Counselling
Once the asylum request has been processed at the office an employee of the IND has his first meeting with the refugee. In this meeting they talk about the origin of the refugee, nationality of the refugee and the travel route of the refugee. The reason of coming to the Netherlands is not discussed in this meeting. After the first meeting the refugee gets a transcript of the meeting and he can discuss it with his lawyer.
Step 4 - Second Councelling
In the second counselling the employee of the IND asks the refugee the reason for seeking asylum. During this meeting the Refugee is free to say why he left his country and what the situation there currently is like. If necessary a translator is present during the meeting so that the employee and the refugee can understand each other properly.
Step 5 - Judgement
After all counsellings there are two possibilities:
- There is no more research needed and the IND expects to have a final decision in a period of 8 days.
- More research time is needed and the asylum request is researched in depth, this takes approximately 6 months.
Step 6 - Decision making
After gathering all the information and details about the refugee the IND decides if it is allowed to stay in the Netherlands. If the IND decides that the refugee is allowed to stay in the country then the refugee gets a residence permit, this is generally for a period five years. If this residence permit has expired the IND checks if the refugee still needs protection. If this is the case the refugee gets a residence permit for a undecided time. This means that the refugee can stay in the Netherlands for the rest of their life.
Bibliography
- "Asylum Seeker in The Netherlands." Immigratie- En Naturalisatiedienst. Immigratie En Naturalisatiedienst, 17 Nov. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.