Access to the common procedure should be based on a three-step approach consisting of the making, registering and lodging of an application. Making an application is the first step that triggers the application of this Regulation. A third-country national or stateless person is considered to have made an application when expressing a wish to receive international protection from a Member State. Where the application is received by an authority which is not responsible for registering applications, Member States should, in accordance with their internal procedures and organisation, apply this Regulation so that the effective access to the procedure can be ensured. It should be possible to express the wish to receive international protection from a Member State in any form, and the individual applicant need not necessarily use specific words such as ‘international protection’, ‘asylum’ or ‘subsidiary protection’. The defining element should be the expression by the third-country national or the stateless person of a fear of persecution or serious harm upon return to his or her country of origin, or in the case of a stateless person, to his or her country of former habitual residence. Where there is doubt as to whether a certain declaration may be construed as an application for international protection, the third-country national or stateless person should be expressly asked whether he or she wishes to receive international protection. The applicant should benefit from the rights under this Regulation and of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) as soon as he or she makes an application.