The 2nd interview with the IND
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You have the 2nd interview with the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND). This is an important interview for your asylum application. You explain in detail why you fled. You will be appointed a lawyer and undergo a medical examination.
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.
Accompanying children may also have an interview with the IND
The asylum procedure is mainly focused on adults because the IND mainly talks to adults. But children who have fled together with their parents sometimes also have the right to their own interview with the IND. Children do not have to have an interview with the IND if they do not want one. But the IND has to ask the child and the parents.
Children as young as 15 will be asked if they want their own interview with IND
Children are not automatically given an interview. The IND does ask children older than 15 during the 1st interview whether they had their own reasons for fleeing. And whether they also want an interview with the IND about the reasons for their flight.
Children between the ages of 12 and 15 are asked via their parents if they would like their own interview with IND
During the first interview, the IND must also ask the parents of children aged between 12 and 15 whether those children wish to be interviewed. Children aged 12 to 15 who do not have their own grounds for asylum must also be given the opportunity to tell their story.
If the IND does not ask the parents about this during the first interview, but the child does wish to have an interview, this can still be communicated to the IND via the lawyer at the start of the asylum procedure. For children aged between 12 and 15, this does not usually involve a proper interview with an IND official. Children are usually given the opportunity to write down what they wish to say.