Asylum investigation – what happens then?
After you have applied for asylum you and your parents will be summoned to an asylum investigation. It may take a long time before you can come to an asylum investigation. The waiting times can also differ from one family to another.
As a child, you are allowed to talk to the Migration Agency staff if you want to, and your parents agree to it.
You don't have to talk to the staff if you don't want to. The staff will talk to your parents and will ask your parents questions about you.
How does an asylum investigation work?
The asylum investigation is a conversation with the Migration Agency where the officer will ask you what has happened to you in your home country and what would happen if you returned there. The Migration Agency will also ask you how you travelled to Sweden and examine your identities. To the investigation you should bring documents such as your passport and other identification documents that show that what you tell us is true.
Being in an asylum investigation can be hard. The investigation takes between two and three hours and you will get questions about things that can be hard or embarrassing to talk about. It is important that you tell the Migration Agency the truth, even if it's hard, and try to answer all questions as well as you can. If you get the same questions several times it doesn't mean that you gave the wrong answer, but that the officer needs more information. If you need to take a pause you can ask the officer for a break.
Just like at any other meeting at the Migration Agency it's important that you understand the interpreter so that you understand what is said and what you must do. Remember to say if you don't understand the interpreter.
It is important that you tell us everything that has happened to you. It is important for the Migration Agency to know the reasons why you cannot stay in your home country, not just your parents' reasons. Your stories are written down in a record. A record is notes about what you have said.
Who will be at the asylum investigation?
Often there will be one person from the Migration Agency who will conduct the investigation. Sometimes there are two people from the Migration Agency; then one will conduct the investigation and the other person will write down the record. If you have a public counsel he or she will be there. There will also be an interpreter in the room. The interpreter is not an employee of the Migration Agency: he or she is from a company that provides interpreters. The staff are willing to talk to you alone, but if you want to, one of your parents can be there too.