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An application is considered to be a subsequent application when following a final termination or rejection decision on a former application. New circumstances or facts have to be submitted in order for a subsequent application to be admissible.[1]
In 2023, 3 subsequent applications were lodged, 2 of them made by Afghan minor asylum-seeker boys.[2] In 2024, 1 subsequent application was lodged.[3] In 2025, 4 subsequent applications were lodged.[4]
Submitting a subsequent application carries a series of consequences for the applicant:
- New facts or circumstances have to be presented in order for the application to be admissible;[5]
- Admissible subsequent applications are examined in an accelerated procedure (see Accelerated Procedure);[6]
- The court hearing of subsequent applicants who are detained can be dispensed with if their subsequent application is based on the same factual grounds as the previous one;[7]
- The NDGAP interview can be dispensed with if a person failed to state facts or to provide proofs that would allow recognition as a refugee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection in the subsequent application;[8]
- If a person submits a subsequent application just before the execution of their expulsion, and the application is rejected as inadmissible (i.e., no new facts or evidence were presented), then the person does not have a right to remain on the territory anymore and no right to accommodation, to aid and support, and to undertake employment following the inadmissible decision.[9]An appeal in such cases does not have a suspensive effect;[10]
- Judicial review of rejected subsequent applications does not have a suspensive effect (see Accelerated Procedure);[11]
- The amendments that entered into force on 1 January 2018 provided that subsequent procedures are no longer free of charge. As a general rule, applicants in repeat procedures are granted an exemption from paying any costs incurred during the procedure (e.g. related to expert opinions), but applicants having adequate financial resources may be required to pay such fees. This is decided on a case-by-case basis by the NDGAP based on the personal circumstances of the applicants, and a standalone legal remedy is available against the interim decision of the [12]
- If a person submits a second subsequent application, when the first subsequent application was rejected by a final decision, they shall not be entitled to exercise the right to stay on the territory, to aid, support and accommodation and to undertake employment.[13]An appeal in such cases does not have a suspensive effect.[14]
There is no time limit to submit a subsequent application or an explicit limitation on the number of asylum applications that may be lodged in the same case.
Not much guidance is provided by the Asylum Act as to what can be considered as new elements. Section 86 of the Asylum Decree only stipulates that the refugee authority shall primarily assess whether the person seeking recognition was able to substantiate any new facts or circumstances as grounds for recognition of the applicant as a refugee or as a beneficiary of subsidiary protection. The existence or not of new facts or circumstances is determined in the admissibility procedure.
Given the lack of clear and publicly available guidelines, the NDGAP may interpret the concept of ‘new facts or circumstances’ in a restrictive and arbitrary way. Examples of such arbitrary interpretation occurred in 2019. For example, an Afghan family received an inadmissible decision, based on Serbia being a ‘safe transit country’ and the court confirmed the decision. However, Serbia then explicitly refused to take back the applicants. The NDGAP refused to continue examining their application on the merits but instead changed their expulsion order from Serbia to Afghanistan. The applicants submitted another request for asylum, but the NDGAP rejected it as an inadmissible subsequent application, since according to the NDGAP no new facts were provided. Refusal of Serbia to admit the applicants was not considered to be a new fact by the NDGAP. The decision was quashed by the Metropolitan Court who explicitly stated that this is an inappropriate use of the rules on subsequent procedures.[15]
[1] Section 51(2)(d) Asylum Act.
[2] Information received from the NDGAP by the HHC on 19 February 2024.
[3] Information received from the NDGAP by the HHC on 20 February 2025.
[4] Information received from the NDGAP by the HHC to the quarterly data requests.
[5] Section 51(2)(d) Asylum Act.
[6] Section 51(7)(f) Asylum Act.
[7] Section 68(3) Asylum Act.
[8] Section 43(2)(b) Asylum Act.
[9] Section 54(2) Asylum Act.
[10] Section 54(4) Asylum Act.
[11] Section 53(6) Asylum Act.
[12] Section 34 Asylum Act.
[13] Section 54(3) Asylum Act.
[14] Section 54(4) Asylum Act.
[15] Metropolitan Court, 15.K.31.737/2019/17, 2 December 2019.