Attending an interview with the Danish Return Agency at your return centre

When being accommodated at a return centre, you are a returnee and obliged to leave Denmark.

If you do not leave Denmark of your own accord, the caseworker responsible for your return case will regularly call you for return journey interviews. You will be called a few days before the scheduled interview date. It is therefore important that you regularly check your email.

An interpreter who speaks your mother tongue will also participate in the interview, either by telephone or in person. Before the interview, the caseworker concerned will have read your case. You are obliged to attend the interviews you are called for and as such must make it a priority to report for them.

If you have other, unchangeable appointments, you must notify the Danish Prison and Probation Service or the Danish Red Cross or directly contact a Danish Return Agency caseworker at the centre where you are staying. At the interviews, an assessment will be made of whether or not you are cooperating on the preparation for your return journey. The Danish Return Agency will make a decision about your cooperation/non-cooperation based on this assessment.

You must actively cooperate on preparing your return journey by, for example, obtaining ID documents and being willing to appear at the embassy of the country to which you are being returned. You must also cooperate on planning the physical return. 

Repatriation support

If you cooperate on preparing your return journey, you can get help to find out whether you are eligible for financial support to re-establish yourself in your home country. If you do not cooperate on preparing your return, during the interview we will examine whether there are any factors that might persuade you to do so. We will also consider whether a basis exists for re-opening your case and whether you should talk to a lawyer or the Danish Refugee Council. The possible consequences of failing to cooperate include that you will not receive benefits and cannot participate in educational and activation programmes.

You can read more about repatriation support here.

Return contract

A return contract will also be entered into, summarising the agreements made during the interview and the specific objectives going forward. This will vary depending on the individual case.

You can read more here about entering into a return contract.

At the end of the interview, you will be offered a copy of the interview summary.