Application can be considered as implicitly withdrawn or abandoned

Background information

Depending on the national legislation, the authority may assume that the applicant has implicitly abandoned their application in one of the following situations (¹⁶⁵) if the applicant:

failed to lodge their application after having made one (¹⁶⁶);
failed to respond to requests to provide information essential to their application;
failed to appear for a personal interview;
(permanently or for a long time) leaves the place where they lived without informing the relevant authority;
did not comply with reporting duties or other obligations to communicate.

The assumption is lifted if the applicant demonstrates within a reasonable time that their acts were due to circumstances beyond their control.

In the event of an implicit withdrawal, the determining authority will take a decision to either:

discontinue the examination; or
reject the application.

If the decision is to discontinue the examination but the applicant reports again to the competent authority:

the case can be reopened; or
the applicant can submit a new application which will not be considered as a subsequent application.

The EU+ country may set a time limit of at least 9 months, after which the case cannot be reopened or the new application will be considered as a subsequent application.
The EU+ country may provide that a case can be reopened only once (¹⁶⁷).

(¹⁶⁵) Article 28 APD (recast) ‘Procedure in the event of implicit withdrawal or abandonment of the application’.
(¹⁶⁶) Article 6(2) APD (recast) ‘Access to the procedure’: ‘[…] Where the applicant does not lodge his or her application, Member States may apply Article 28, [the procedure in the event of implicit withdrawal or abandonment of an application], accordingly.’
(¹⁶⁷) Article 28(1) APD (recast) ‘Procedure in the event of implicit withdrawal or abandonment of the application’.

Explain this message during the first contact (making) and registration/lodging:

if the applicant does not cooperate with the authorities, (permanently) leaves the accommodation without informing the authorities or does not appear for appointments, it may negatively affect the application, which might be discontinued or rejected and, consequently, the applicant would no longer be considered an applicant.

Explain these additional messages during the registration/lodging and, if relevant, in relation to the personal interview:

The situations in which the application can be discontinued or rejected, unless the applicant demonstrates that their acts were due to circumstances beyond their control. (For more information, see the background information for this topic).
However, if the application is discontinued, it can be reopened, or a new application can be submitted without being considered as a subsequent application. This can occur if the applicant reports again to the competent authority within a certain time frame, defined in your national context.

Practical tip: providing examples to understand non-compliance and its consequences

It is useful to provide practical examples, for example, if an applicant has an appointment to lodge their claim and does not show up despite being invited multiple times, this would be considered failure to conclude lodging unless there are valid reasons for not following the lodging process (e.g. medical reasons).
Emphasise that the obligations are relevant for the applicant to be aware of also after the interview stage.