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The reason for the application for your assessment being made has to do with your physical and/or psychological complaints and their possible connection with your application for asylum and/or your present stay in the Netherlands. The assessment is not a medical treatment. Its only purpose is to produce a report about your complaints.
The assessment is meant to be independent and therefore you are being assessed by an independent physician or psychologist. He or she does neither work for the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (IND)), nor for the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers (COA)), nor for the AsylumSeekersHealthCenter (Gezondheidscentrum Asielzoekers (GC A)) nor for the Dutch Council for Refugees (Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland), nor for your lawyer.
Before the assessment is being performed you have to give a written permission to do so by signing the document Consent iMMO Assessment. Usually this happens at the venue of the party requesting the assessment. This will always be done in consultation with you. Without your written permission the assessment will not take place. In the consent form you grant permission for three things:
- to have the assessment performed by an iMMO assessor
- to have the information processed within the iMMO organization
- to have iMMO sending the report to the party requesting it.
In preparing for the assessment you will be asked whether you prefer a male or female assessor. During the assessment an interpreter (possibly by phone) will be present. Prior to the assessment you may make your preference known for a language you command with appropriate fluency. You may also express preference for a male or female interpreter.
The venue of the assessment depends on the location of the assessor. You will have to travel to him/her yourself. You are allowed to be accompanied by a confidant but this person as a rule will not be allowed to be present at the assessment. He or she will usually have to wait during your assessment. The assessment may take one to several hours. Infrequently a second appointment must be made. During or shortly after the assessment you are entitled to ask for a different assessor than selected by iMMO to perform the assessment, for reasons that reasonably impair a fair and objective assessment.
At the beginning of the assessment the assessor will explain again the nature and purpose of the assessment. During the assessment your complaints will be given due attention. Your physical as well as your psychological complaints will be considered. A physical examination may be part of the assessment, including some diagnostic tests. Sometimes different psychological tests or questionnaires may be applied. For instance to test your memory or your ability to mentally focus. At the end of the assessment the assessor will ask you again whether everything has been understood by you and whether you have been able to share everything you deem important.
You are entitled to see the draft report for factual correction and consequently receive a copy of the final report that iMMO will send to the party requesting it. As a rule you will get this from the party requesting the assessment
The assessors (physicians and psychologists) and all staff of iMMO are bound by confidentiality and professional ethics. Information regarding your assessment and your dossier is confidential and will only be shared with staff members in iMMO as is necessary for processing your assessment. Providing information to other parties outside iMMO, other than the party requesting the assessment, will only be done on your request or with you written permission.
The information gathered in your assessment may be of value for the training and education of iMMO assessors. This may be of benefit to persons to be assessed in the future. If this is the case iMMO may ask for your permission to use the information for educational purposes. This will be done in a way that is anonymous and not traceable to you. All persons involved are bound to confidentiality. You are not obliged to cooperate. Granting or denying permission is of no consequence with regard to either the performance or the result of your own assessment. If you grant permission you will do this by signing the Consent Educational Use iMMO.
Should there be anything that you don’t understand or which is cause for dissatisfaction please discuss this with the physician or psychologist performing the assessment. He or she will be willing to give you a listening ear. Should this not lead to resolving the issue than please confer with the iMMO bureau. Should you want to make a complaint about the assessment or the report you may do this to the general manager of iMMO by letter or by email (info@stichtingimmo.nl). You may read more about this in the Regulation on complaints.
