The guide outlines the elements that need to be taken into consideration by case officers when identifying a potential IPA location and when assessing the IPA criteria in order to decide on its application. This includes the examination of safety; travel and admittance; and the reasonableness to settle in the IPA location. The guide takes it a step further by referring to specific profiles of applicants that prove challenging for case officers to decide on the application of IPA, as well as to specific considerations in relation to cessation clauses and subsequent applications. 

This guide is primarily intended for case officers but can be also useful for policymakers, legal officers, supervisors, trainers, quality assessors or other relevant staff of the national asylum administrations as well as other actors such as legal counsellors and civil society staff.  

The guide was developed by experts from EU+ countries, with valuable input from the European Commission and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE). Valuable input was also received from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on earlier versions of the guide; the finalised guide does not necessarily reflect the position of UNCHR. The process was facilitated and coordinated by EASO. Before its finalisation, the guide was consulted with all EU+ countries through the EASO Asylum Processes Network.