1.Where a national agency designated pursuant to Article 30(4) of the basic Regulation or a sub-office established thereunder, receives an application, it shall forward to the Office, together with the application to be forwarded in accordance with Article 49(2) of the basic Regulation, a confirmation of receipt. The confirmation of receipt shall include the file number of the national agency or sub-office, the number of forwarded documents and the date of receipt at the national agency or sub-office. A copy of the forwarded receipt shall be issued to the applicant by the national agency or sub-office.
2.Where the Office receives an application from the applicant direct or via a sub-office or a national agency, it shall, without prejudice to other provisions, mark the documents making up the application with a file number and the date of receipt at the Office and shall issue a receipt to the applicant. The receipt shall include the file number of the Office, the number of documents received, the date of receipt at the Office and the date of application within the meaning of Article 51 of the basic Regulation. A copy of the receipt shall be issued to the national agency or sub-office via which the Office has received the application.
3.If the Office receives an application via a sub-office or national agency more than one month after its filing by the applicant, the ‘date of application’ within the meaning of Article 51 of the basic Regulation may not be earlier than the date of receipt at the Office, unless the Office establishes on the basis of sufficient documentary evidence that the applicant has forwarded an information to it in accordance with Article 49(1)(b) of the basic Regulation and Article 16(2) of this Regulation.