If the IND definitively rejects your asylum application, you may sometimes be able to submit a new application

Do you want to apply for asylum again because your first application was rejected? If so, it is important that you can demonstrate that there are new facts or circumstances. The

For example, you may have received documents that you did not have during your first asylum procedure. And these new documents show that the information you previously provided to the IND was correct. Examples include membership cards proving that you were a member of a political party, or of a church or religious group, or documents proving that you attended political meetings or events. Medical reports of injuries and documents proving that you reported violence or threats may also constitute new facts.

Examples of new circumstances might include a war breaking out in your country, or other changes in your country that have made the situation much worse or more dangerous (for you).

A new asylum application must therefore be based on new information. However, information that was already known but which you had not yet disclosed or provided to the IND may also constitute new information. Always discuss with your lawyer whether the new documents or evidence you have received could constitute grounds for submitting another asylum application.

The new facts and circumstances must also be relevant to your asylum application. This means that these new facts and circumstances could alter the IND’s decision on your asylum application. And often they do not. For example: the situation in your home country may change, making it more dangerous for journalists, LGBTQIA+ individuals or women. But if you are not a journalist, not an LGBTQIA+ individual and not a woman, then that is not relevant to your asylum procedure. And if you have found a job in the Netherlands, that is indeed new. But it is not relevant to your asylum procedure. You should therefore always discuss with your lawyer first whether the new documents or evidence could be a reason to submit another asylum application.

If the IND considers that the grounds for your new application are neither new nor relevant, it will not process your application.

For all these reasons, it is important not to rush into submitting a new asylum application. Thorough preparation is essential. Before submitting a new application, contact the lawyer who handled your first application. They can assess whether the new information is significant enough to warrant a new application. They can also assist you with the new application.

If your lawyer does not agree to this, you will have to find a new lawyer yourself to assist you if you still wish to submit a new application. You may have to pay this new lawyer yourself. The costs involved can be substantial. You must therefore be absolutely certain that it is worthwhile to submit a new asylum application. So please think this through carefully.

If you are submitting a new asylum application, it is important that the new documents you send are in Dutch, English, German or French. This is so that the IND can read and understand them. If the new documents are not in one of these languages, you must first have them translated by a '