What is asylum?
Asylum is the legal proceeding where a person who has a well-grounded fear of persecution in his or her home country is allowed to remain in the United States without fear of deportation or removal, and will then be qualified to work, travel abroad, and apply for their children under 21 years of age to join them in the US. Persons granted asylum are called asylees.


How are asylees different from refugees?
Presence in the US. Asylees are already physically in the United States or they are physically in a US port of entry seeking admission into the United States. Refugees, on the other hand, are outside their home country and outside the United States and are seeking to be admitted into the United States.

Stateless. Both asylees and refugees cannot return to their home countries because of a well-founded fear of persecution because of a protected characteristic such as their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.


How often are people granted asylum?
In 2019, the US State Department granted asylum to 46,500 persons. In 2018, only 37,600 received asylum.


Can an undocumented alien in the US apply for asylum?
Yes. The asylum process is open both to aliens who have valid visas as well as to undocumented aliens who are physically in the US without a valid visa. An undocumented alien is a person who has entered the US without a valid visa, or those who remain in the US after their valid visa expires.


How can the asylum process begin?
If you are at a US port of entry. You can declare to the border officer that you are seeking asylum. You will then be directed to fill out a Form I-589 (application for asylum) and you will be subjected to an interview.

If you are already in the US, you can begin the asylum process within one year after the date of your last arrival into the United States (whether you had a valid visa or not). This is called the affirmative process. You must begin the affirmative asylum process before you are arrested and before deportation or removal proceedings are initiated against you.

You can also seek asylum when you are awaiting deportation or removal from the US. This is called the defensive process. This means that you are already awaiting removal and you seek asylum as a means to delay or defeat your removal from the US.


What can I expect after I file the I-589?
After you file your I-589, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will notify you that they have received your application. You will then be notified of your appointment for fingerprinting. After your fingerprints have been recorded, the USCIS will notify you of your interview schedule.


Is there a deadline for filing an application for asylum?
Yes, there is a hard one-year deadline. The applicant must show by “clear and convincing evidence” that they applied for asylum within one-year from the date of their last arrival in the United States. You can still file an application for asylum after that one-year period but, you must be able to prove extraordinary circumstances or materially changed circumstances.


Which government agency handles the asylum process?
At the start, it is the Asylum Division of the USCIS that conducts the “credible fear” interview.
→ At the border, an asylum officer determines whether the applicant has a “reasonable fear of persecution or torture” and either deny the application for asylum or refer it to an Immigration Judge (IJ)
→ If the asylum applicant is already in the US and an asylum officer will refer the asylum case to an IJ for a full hearing.


Can I work after I file an application for asylum?
After you filed an application for asylum and you wish to work, you can secure an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) by filing an I-765. You must file the I-765 only after 150 days from the date you applied for asylum. Once your EAD is issued, you can work while waiting for the result of your application for asylum.


Will I be arrested and detained if I file for asylum?
It depends.

If you are in the US on a valid visa (as a tourist or a student, for instance), you will not be detained if you file for asylum while your visa is still valid.

If you had a valid visa but your visa has expired or if you entered the US illegally, but you have been in the US for two years, you will not be detained.

If you are at the border seeking asylum, you may be detained while your asylum application is being processed or you may be paroled. The USCIS may allow you to enter the US temporarily and stay even when you do not have an immigrant or a non-immigrant visa but only on humanitarian or significant public benefit grounds.

If deportation or removal proceedings have already been initiated against you, you will be detained for sure.


What will I have to prove in an asylum interview?
At the initial interview, the applicant for asylum must be able to prove that they are afraid of persecution if they return home and that the fear is reasonable. The fear is reasonable if there is a reasonable possibility of suffering future persecution.

Note that the initial interview only determined whether there is a “credible fear” of persecution. To be granted asylum by an Immigration Judge, the applicant must be able to prove that they have a “well-grounded fear.” There is well-grounded fear when the fear is not only genuine, it also has a basis in fact.

By documentary or testimonial evidence, the applicant for asylum must prove the following things:
→ The applicant possess a protected characteristic (for example, if you are gay in a Muslim country) or if they belong to a persecuted group (for example, the Rohingya in Myanmar)
→ There is a persecutor who knows that the applicant has a protected characteristic
→ The persecutor has the capability to punish the applicant
→ The persecutor had the inclination (or wants and seeks) to punish the applicant


How can I prove these things?
You can prove that your fear of persecution is credible by your testimony. Your testimony must be corroborated by relatives or friends and other people closely related to you.

You can also produce pictures or medical certificates if you have been tortured, or raped, or assaulted. News articles may also help prove persecution of a group of people.


If my asylum application has been denied, what can I do?
If the asylum officer denies your asylum application, you can seek a review by an Immigration Judge. If the Immigration Judge denies your application, you can appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). If the BIA denies your application, you can appeal to the US Circuit Court of Appeals. And if the Court of Appeals denies your application, you can still appeal to the US Supreme Court.


Do I need a lawyer?
In the United States a person may represent themselves before any court, this is called “pro se” representation. US immigration laws are extremely complex and constantly changing. Even the smallest inadvertent mistake on the application can delay an applicant for years or even result in the denial of their case. A competent attorney can help you determine whether you qualify for the program to which you are applying as well as assist in gathering and producing evidence to support your application. An attorney can also accompany you in your interview as well as prep you beforehand using mock interviews, so you know what to expect and are prepared. An attorney could also appeal any denial of an applicant to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and further to the Circuit court of Appeals all the way up to the Supreme Court.