Information for reception centre employees
When should you inform people about assisted return?
- As soon as possible. If asylum seekers are given good information about the possibilities of return at an early stage, there is a greater chance that they will apply for assisted return.
- It is important to inform the residents that their application can be rejected and that if their application is rejected, they must return to their home country.
Who can apply?
Assisted return is an offer made to:
- people whose application for protection (asylum) or another application for residence has been rejected
- people who are waiting for an answer to their application for protection (asylum)
- people who are staying in Norway without legal residence and have not preciously been registered with a case with the UDI
- people who have been given a decision about transfer to another country in accordance with the Dublin Regulations, but wish to return to their home country instead.
What happens to people who do not return voluntary?
- Asylum seekers who have received a final rejection of their application must leave Norway. If they do not leave Norway by the deadline for leaving, they can be forcibly returned by the police and expelled from Norway and the Schengen area for 1–5 years.
- Financial support for people who live in reception centres are regulated by factors such as the status of their case, and those with a deadline for leaving will receive reduced financial support.
- Someone who is forcibly returned will also owe the cost of the travel expenses to the Norwegian authorities.
Guides
Aktør i egen framtid: Samtaler med barnefamilier på asylmottak, pdf, 4,3 MB ('Deciding your own future: Conversations with families with children at asylum reception centres' – in Norwegian only)