Registering in Ter Apel
If you want to apply for asylum in the Netherlands, you have to go to the registration centre in the village of Ter Apel. Here you apply for asylum and talk to the Dutch police.
Registration takes 7 to 10 days
Due to crowds, there is not enough room in the reception centre in Ter Apel. Therefore, you are sometimes taken to a crisis emergency reception centre nearby. You will stay here for 7 to 10 days. You will be brought back to Ter Apel to complete your application.
Register with the IND
After your arrival in Ter Apel, you must register with the
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. You can submit documents to the IND, such as your identity documents or documents that support your refugee story. If you submit documents to the IND, you will receive a confirmation of this on paper. If you do not yet have any documents with you, you can submit them later.
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 will take pictures of you and take your fingerprints. The police search your clothing and luggage. The police might confiscate your phone to search. The police register your data, photos and fingerprints in a national system: the undefinedBasisvoorziening Vreemdelingenundefined (BVV). You are given a number in this system. This is called a undefinedV-numberundefined. You will also receive a letter with your passport photo, personal data and your undefinedV-numberundefined. At the police, you sign your asylum application. This is called the M35H form.
Please note: If you are not yet registered with the police, and have you been waiting in a crisis emergency reception centre for a long time, this is because the IND cannot keep up with the number of asylum applications due to staff shortages. The IND asks you to be patient until the backlog is cleared.
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 police see that you were previously registered in another European country:
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