1. Applicants shall submit all the elements available to them which substantiate the application for international protection. For that purpose, applicants shall fully cooperate with the determining authority and with other competent authorities and shall remain present and available on the territory of the Member State responsible for examining their application throughout the procedure, including during the assessment of the relevant elements of the application.
2. The elements referred to in paragraph 1 shall consist of the following:
(a) the applicant’s statements; and
(b) all the documentation at the applicant’s disposal regarding the following:
(i) the applicant’s reasons for applying for international protection;
(ii) the applicant’s age;
(iii) the applicant’s background, including that of relevant family members and other relatives;
(iv) the applicant’s identity;
(v) the applicant’s nationality or nationalities;
(vi) the applicant’s country or countries and place or places of previous residence;
(vii) previous applications for international protection from the applicant;
(viii) the results of any resettlement or humanitarian admission procedure relating to the applicant as defined by ;
(ix) the applicant’s travel routes; and
(x) the applicant’s travel documents.
3. The determining authority shall assess the relevant elements of an application for international protection in accordance with Article 34 of .
4. The fact that an applicant has already been subject to persecution or serious harm, or to direct threats of such persecution or such harm, shall be considered a serious indication of that applicant’s well-founded fear of being persecuted or of a real risk of suffering serious harm, unless there are good reasons to consider that such persecution or serious harm will not be repeated.
5. Where one or more particular aspects of the applicant’s statements are not supported by documentary or other evidence, no additional evidence shall be required in respect of those particular aspects where the following conditions are met:
(a) the applicant has made a genuine effort to substantiate his or her application for international protection;
(b) all relevant elements at the applicant’s disposal have been submitted and a satisfactory explanation has been given regarding any lack of other relevant elements;
(c) the applicant’s statements are found to be coherent and plausible and do not run counter to available specific and general information relevant to the applicant’s case;
(d) the general credibility of the applicant has been established, taking into account, inter alia, the time at which the applicant applied for international protection.
Correlation Table
| Directive 2011/95/EU | This Regulation |
| Article 4(1) and (2) | Article 4(1) and (2) |
| — | Article 4(3) |
| Article 4(3), points (a) to (e) | – 1 |
| Article 4(4) and (5) | Article 4(4) and (5) |
- See Article 33(2) of. ↩︎