Step 1 – Registration
After you have submitted an asylum application, an officer of the Danish Immigration Service will register it and they will assess which country is responsible for processing your asylum application, according to the Dublin regulation. After your application has been registered, you will receive an ID card confirming that you have filed an asylum application. Keep these documents in a safe place and always carry a copy with you.
After your application has been registered, you will have the status of asylum-seeker until a final decision is made. The Danish Immigration Service will contact you for a meeting to fill out a form explaining why you are applying for asylum. If you cannot read or write, you do not need to fill out suc form.
Then the Danish Immigration Service will invite you for an information and motivation interview (note that this is different from the asylum interview that will take place later on). This is a short interview where the Danish Immigration Service tries to understand the basic reasons why you are applying for asylum in Denmark and decide whether your case should be processed in Denmark or in another European country. This is usually referred to as the Dublin procedure.
Step 2 – Interview
If Denmark is responsible for handling your asylum application, the Danish Immigration Service will invite you to an interview where you will be given the opportunity to explain the reasons for seeking asylum in Denmark. The asylum interview is a very important step of the asylum procedure. During the interview, you have an opportunity to provide as much information as possible in support of your asylum application and present all available documents in support of your asylum claim. It is important to give a full account of what happened to you and what you fear if you are returned to your country of origin.
- You can find useful advice to prepare the asylum interview on the website of our partner the Danish Refugee Council, available in English and Danish.
If you need an interpreter at any time during your asylum application process, the Danish authorities should provide you with one. The interpreter might be physically present or contacted to provide translation by phone.
All the information you provide during your application for asylum (documents, records during asylum interview with you) will not be shared by the Danish authorities with your home country or anyone else.
I am under 18 and unaccompanied
If a child under 18 arrives in Denmark alone and applies for asylum, the child is called an unaccompanied minor asylum-seeker. An unaccompanied minor asylum-seeker has special rights:
- The child’s asylum application must be processed as quickly as possible by the Danish Immigration Service.
- The child will be assigned a legal guardian in charge to protect the child’s best interests.
- The child will have access to free legal assistance.
- The child will be placed in an asylum centre specially designed for unaccompanied children.
