Asylum
We provide representation to asylum seekers from a wide array of countries, including Albania, Algeria, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Haiti, Liberia, Moldova, Russia, Sierra Leone, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Our services include representation at the initial interview, and if necessary in Immigration Court, and at the Board of Immigration Appeals. Below we have provided some basic information on the requirements for asylum and the procedures for submitting asylum applications.

Overview: Asylum may be granted to people who are already in the United States and are afraid to return to their home country because they have been, or will be persecuted on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. If you are granted asylum, you will be allowed to live and work in the United States. You also will be able to apply for permanent resident status one year after you are granted asylum. Asylum status and refugee status are closely related. They differ only in the place where a person asks for the status. For example, asylum is asked for in the United States, while refugee status is asked for outside of the United States. However, all people who are granted asylum must meet the definition of a refugee.

Eligibility: To be eligible for asylum in the United States, a foreign national must be in the United States and afraid to return home. Foreign nationals may apply for asylum regardless of their immigration status, meaning that they may apply even if they are illegally in the United States.

In general, an application for asylum must be submitted within one year of the applicant's arrival in the United States. Applications may be filed beyond the one-year deadline, but must be accompanied by a strong reason why the application was not filed earlier. The USCIS and Immigration Court have been very strict on the one-year requirement. An applicant may be excused from the one-year deadline if extraordinary circumstance prevented him/her from filing within the one-year period as long as the application is submitted within a reasonable time given those circumstances.

Procedure: A person in the United States must submit an I-589 Application for Asylum by mail to the USCIS. This application should be accompanied by documentary evidence of the reasons why the person is afraid to return to his/her home country. Once the USCIS has completed initial processing, the applicant will be scheduled for an asylum interview. At the interview, an USCIS officer will question the applicant concerning their application and reasons for being afraid to return home.

If the USCIS grants the application, the foreign national will receive an approval notice and I-94 card denoting the asylum status. If the USCIS officer intends to deny the application, the applicant will be placed into removal proceedings, and must go before an Immigration Judge to testify on the asylum application, if they are illegal in the United States. If the applicant is in valid immigrant or nonimmigrant status and the Asylum Officer finds that he/she is not eligible for asylum, the Asylum Officer will send a notice explaining that the USCIS intends to deny the request for asylum. Applicants in this situation will be given an opportunity to respond to that notice before a decision is made on their application.

Foreign nationals who are in removal proceedings may also submit applications for asylum, as a form of relief from deportation, directly to the Immigration Judge. The Immigration Judge will take the applicant's testimony, and that of any witnesses, as well as review all evidence in the case to determine whether the application should be granted. If the Judge approves the application, the foreign national may remain in the United States to pursue permanent residence. If not approved the applicant must appeal the Judge's decision, leave the United States voluntarily, or be deported.

Appeals must be submitted within 30 days of the date of the Judge's decision and will be submitted directly to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The Board often takes more than a year to make a decision on an appeal.

Family Members: Applicants may include their spouse and any unmarried children under the age of 21 in the application if they are already in the United States. If not, applicants must wait until their application is granted, and submit a separate petition to obtain asylum status for their family members.

Travel: A person with a pending asylum application who wants to travel outside the United States, must receive advance permission before leaving the United States in order to return to the United States. This advance permission is called Advance Parole. If an applicant does not apply for Advance Parole before leaving the country, the asylum application may be considered abandoned and the applicant forbidden from reentering the United States. Once an application for asylum is approved, asylees may apply for a Refugee Travel Document. This document will allow them to travel abroad and return to the United States. Advance Parole and Refugee Travel Documents are both obtained by submitting form I-131 Application for Travel Document.

Work Permits: Asylum applicants cannot apply for employment authorization at the same time they apply for asylum. They must wait 150 days after the USCIS receives a complete application before applying for employment authorization. It is important to remember that the USCIS will stop "the 150 day clock" on work authorization if the applicant misses any USCIS appointment, or delays the processing of the application in any way for any reason. The "clock" will not start to run again until the applicant appears at the USCIS for his/her interview or hearing. The form used for obtaining a work permit is I-765 Application for Employment Authorization Document.

Green Cards: Once a successful asylum applicant has been an asylee for one year, he or she may submit an application for permanent residence, I-485 Application to Register or Adjust Permanent Residence. The processing is conducted through the USCIS Nebraska Service Center, located in Lincoln Nebraska. Asylees and their eligible family members (those who have also had asylum for one year) will submit their I-485 applications and the required supporting documentation. Then, they will wait. Congress has limited the number of green cards available annually to asylees to 4000. However, there are many more than 4000 eligible asylees each year. Therefore, once an application for permanent residence is submitted, the asylee must wait several years before it will be granted. Applicants are also required to attend an interview with the USCIS prior to the approval of permanent residence.