The Asylum Interview

Preparing for the Asylum Interview

The interview is your opportunity to tell your own, personal story about what happened to you in your home country and why you decided to come to Ireland.

It is very important to be well prepared for it. The following are the most essential steps in the process.

Register with Refugee Legal Service

You should register with the “Refugee Legal Service” (RLS) immediately. This service is confidential, independent of the Department of Justice and Equality (DOJE) and is there to help you.

Register as soon as possible, because the RLS will need time to arrange a personal caseworker for you.

If you travel to Dublin for a legal consultation with the Refugee Legal Service, the Community Welfare Officer will give you funding for the travel expenses. In some cases this is only after you come back from the consultation. You need to bring back a letter of proof from your caseworker that you have attended legal consultation and also all travel receipts.

You can contact your Refugee Legal Service caseworker anytime with questions. You should make contact if you change address, or if you receive any correspondence from the Department of Justice and Equality (DOJE).

If you have not received legal advice before your interview, New Horizon may be able to give you a letter stating this. Present it to the interviewer on the day of your interview. This letter will then be enclosed in your case file and may be of use later.

Services that RLS provide
  • Advice before you submit your asylum questionnaire to the International Protection Office (IPO).
  • Advice before you attend your interview for asylum at IPO.
  • Advice before you attend any interview at IPO for subsidiary protection to include advice in relation to the new procedures for deciding applications for subsidiary protection.
  • Interpreters for appointments with your solicitor.
  • If you have made an application for asylum in another European Union State advice as to written submissions to IPO in support of your application for asylum being determined in Ireland.
  • Advice prior to and representation before the International Protection Appeals Tribunal on foot of any appeal against a decision of the Refugee Applications Commissioner to refuse you asylum or to refuse you subsidiary protection.
  • Advice prior to and representation in the District Court if you have been detained under certain provisions of the Refugee Act 1996 [The Legal Aid Board cannot represent you where you are charged with a criminal offence].
  • Assistance in the submission of applications for leave to remain.
  • Advice in relation to deportation orders.
Important Preparation

If you do not have a copy of your “90-Question-Questionaire”, that you filled out, contact the Department of Justice and Equality (DOJE) immediately, and ask for a copy.

Important:

Make sure that all of your immediate family members are listed in the application. If they are not it may be difficult to get them admitted on a family reunification visa when your own refugee status is recognised.

A member of the family in relation to a person with refugee or subsidiary protection status means:

  • Where a refugee or sponsor is married or in a civil partnership, their spouse or civil partner, providing that the marriage or civil partnership is in existence when the application for family reunification is made;
  • Where a refugee or sponsor is under the age of 18 years and is not married, their parents;
  • The child of a refugee or sponsor who on the date of the application for family reunification is under 18 years and not married.
Write down your own case story

Be as detailed as possible. Try to remember every little incident that happened. Maybe it seemed irrelevant at the time, now it is important. Try to remember exact dates of all events and incidents. Write your story exactly in the order as it happened.

Check the questions and your answers to the “84-Question-Questionnaire that you had to fill out after you arrived in Ireland. These questions and answers will be reviewed and checked for truth in your interview. Question “84” (why did you come to Ireland seeking refugee status?) will be asked again by the interviewer.

Make sure that your story is consistent with the answers you gave to the questionnaire. If you have made a mistake in the questionnaire tell the interviewer that early in the interview.

Read your story out aloud to yourself every day. Even though you will not be able to tell your story exactly this way in the interview, this is your chance to build up your self confidence.

Make a photocopy of every document or letter and every form that you fill out before you send it to the Department of Justice and Equality (DOJE).

Gather information for your case

Try to collect as much written proof as possible about your claim for asylum ( for example, death certificate from family member/friend, membership papers of a particular trade union, qualification papers for skills and education  and references

If possible and only if 100% safe, you can contact family or friends in your home country to request any of these documents. Be very careful not to expose your contact when doing this, it can be very dangerous for them.

Collect specific information about your home country and the political situation at the time you fled. Make sure it relates to your own case. You can collect this information from:

  • Books in the library
  • Internet (available in the library)

If you need help researching information ask any New Horizon member.

The interviewer will ask you questions like:

  • What caused you to leave your country?
  • Why did you not move into a different part of your country instead?
  • Why did you leave your country last month and not one year ago?

Be sure to have clear answers to these questions.

Attend the interview

When you receive your interview date, inform your community welfare officer (CWO). He or she will give you the money for your trip to Dublin before you go.

In the letter with the interview date, you are asked to fill out a confirmation form. It is important to send it back to the Department of Justice and Equality (DOJE).

If you need an interpreter make sure to indicate this on the form. Every reasonable effort will be made to provide an interpreter in your own language.

You can request in writing to be accompanied by an observer. This observer is not a legal representative and cannot speak during the interview. A request for an observer may be refused by the Department of Justice and Equality (DOJE).

You can request in advance an interviewer and interpreter of your own gender. If your story involves details that you would not want to discuss with a member of the opposite sex you should request this. This request cannot be refused by the Department of Justice and Equality (DOJE).

If you have children, make arrangements for someone to look after them while you are at your interview. The Department of Justice and Equality (DOJE) does not provide a person to take care of your child during that time.

At the Asylum Interview

Remember, you are not automatically entitled to recognition of your refugee status; you must convince the interviewer that you are a refugee under the terms of the Refugee Act.

The interview is your opportunity to tell your own, personal story about what happened to you in your home country and why you decided to come to Ireland. It is very important to be well prepared for it and to do it as well as possible.

Going to the interview

You will receive a letter from the Department of Justice and Equality (DOJE) with the date of the interview. In most cases you will receive it approximately one month before the interview, but sometimes you can receive shorter notice.

It is very, very important, that you go to the interview.

If you absent yourself without reasonable cause, your case will be treated as abandoned. You can only be re-admitted into the asylum procedure if you have valid reasons for your non-attendance. If you fail to go on more than one occasion, the Refugee Applications Commissioner (RAC) will recommend that you should not be declared a refugee.

You have to go to your interview even if you have a minor illness.If you are seriously ill or cannot travel due to advanced pregnancy contact the Department of Justice and Equality (DOJE) immediately. Get a medical certificate (also known as a sick note) from a doctor and present it to them.

Interview conditions

The interview will be held in a small office. The only other people present will be the interviewer, and, if necessary, a translator.

Do not be afraid of the interviewer. Make eye contact and smile. Looking away from the interviewer, which is polite in some cultures, may be taken as a sign of evasiveness.

Give full information in reply to questions, not just ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answers. Feel free to have notes and to consult them for details as necessary.

Do not read out answers to questions, it creates the impression of having being coached.

Couples, whether married or unmarried, will be interviewed separately. This is usually on the same day but may be on different days.

The Department of Justice and Equality (DOJE) has nobody to look after your child during your interview. You may bring your child into the interview room, but we strongly advise you not to do this. Your child will distract you from the interview questions.

Interview content

Remember that credibility is very important. If you had good reason to tell lies or use false documents to travel out of your country of origin, it is better to reveal that fact, and explain the reasons for it to the interviewer.

If it emerges later that you deliberately concealed something relevant, your application could be treated as manifestly unfounded. A manifestly unfounded claim is defined as one where the decision maker is of the opinion that the claim is clearly fraudulent.

Typically interviews last between two and four hours.  It will not be hostile but it will be challenging. It can be a very emotional and difficult experience as it brings you back to a very difficult part of your life. Feel free to ask for a short break to recapture your thoughts, to drink a glass of water or go to the toilet.

You are legally entitled to an interpreter, but only if it is necessary and possible. The Department of Justice and Equality (DOJE) will arrange this. If the interpreter is not available you can refuse to continue. If you are not satisfied with the interpreter, you may refuse to continue the interview. This is better than continuing the interview with a misinterpretation of your story. The interview can be rescheduled if necessary.

After the interview

While you speak, the interviewer takes notes of your story. At the end of the interview you are asked to sign each page of these notes to certify that this is an accurate record of what you said.

Take your time and read each page very, very carefully

Only sign the pages if you totally agree with the content of each page. If you do not agree with all the contents of the page, make this remark before you sign the page. Make sure that your objection is recorded on the page concerned.

If you are accompanied by an observer, this person is not allowed to speak during the interview. He or she can only take notes. After the interview the observer can then speak and make remarks about the conduct of the interview. For example the observer could indicate if the interview was not held fairly or if certain issues are not understood correctly.

After the interview you have seven working days to make written observations on the interview. It may be possible to submit additional information, such as newspaper cuttings that support your case, at this stage.

You may present additional documents to the Department of Justice and Equality (DOJE) at any time up to the appeal stage. If you want to bring forward additional information at the appeal stage, you will have to explain why this material was not available to the Refugee Applications Commissioner before the appeal hearing.

Interview Result

The International Protection Office (IPO) interview will produce one of the following three results:

Refugee status granted

This is the best case scenario. Refugee status is a permanent offer; you will be allowed to remain in Ireland permanently and become an Irish citizen. Refugee status allows for family reunification.

Refugee status refused, subsidiary protection granted

Subsidiary protection is granted for a specific period of time, usually three years. If the situation in your home country improves in this period then it may be revised. Subsidiary protection does not allow for family reunification.

Refugee status refused, subsidiary protection refused

It’s possible to make an appeal against the decision to the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT). If you do not have legal representation already you should get it immediately.

The Refugee Legal Service (RLS) is a law centre established by the Legal Aid Board to provide confidential and independent legal services to persons applying for asylum in Ireland. Legal aid and advice is also provided, in appropriate cases, on immigration and deportation matters.

Refugee Legal Services provides a confidential service to all persons who contact it. It is also possible to employ private lawyers who specialise in refugee and immigration issues.