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What
is Asylum and How Benefits |
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Asylum may be granted to
people who are already in the United States and are unable
or unwilling to return to their home country because of
persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution 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 will be able to apply for permanent
resident status one year after you are granted asylum. You
may include your spouse and any unmarried children under the
age of 21 in your own asylum application if your spouse or
children are in the United States. If your spouse or
children are outside the United States there is a proceeding
to get your spouse and children derivative asylum status in
the United States.
Asylum status and refugee status
are closely related. They differ only in the place where a
person asks for the status asylum is asked for in the United
States; refugee status is asked for outside of the United
States. However, all people who are granted asylum must meet
the definition of a refugee. If you will apply outside
the United States you would have to get resettled in the
United States as a refugee.
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Who
is Eligible For Asylum |
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To be
eligible for asylum in the United States, you must ask for
asylum at a port-of-entry (airport, seaport or border
crossing), or file an application within one year of your
arrival in the United States. You may ask later than one
year if conditions in your country have changed or if your
personal circumstances have changed within the past year
prior to your asking for asylum, and those changes of
circumstances affected your eligibility for asylum. You may
also be excused from the one year deadline if extraordinary
circumstance prevented you from filing within the one year
period after your arrival, so long as you apply within a
reasonable time given those circumstances. For a
non-exhaustive list of circumstances that may excuse you
from the one year deadline. You may apply for asylum
regardless of your immigration status, meaning that you
may apply even if you are illegally in the United States.
In addition, you must qualify for
asylum under the definition of refugee. Your eligibility
will be based on information you provide on your application
and during an interview with an Asylum Officer or
Immigration Judge. If you have been placed in removal
(deportation) proceedings in Immigration Court, an
Immigration Judge will hear and decide your case. If you
have not been placed in removal proceedings and apply with
the INS, an Asylum Officer will interview you and decide
whether you are eligible for asylum. Asylum Officers will
grant asylum, deny asylum or refer the case to an
Immigration Judge for a final decision. If an Asylum Officer
finds that you are not eligible for asylum and you are in
the United States illegally, the Asylum Officer will place
you in removal proceedings and refer your application to an
Immigration Judge for a final decision. Immigration Judges
also decide on removal if an applicant is found ineligible
for asylum and is illegally in the United States. If you are
in valid immigrant or nonimmigrant status and the Asylum
Officer finds that you are not eligible for asylum, the
Asylum Officer will send you a notice explaining that the
INS intends to deny your request for asylum. You will be
given an opportunity to respond to that notice before a
decision is made on your application.
The instructions attached to the
application form for asylum, INS
Form I-589 (Application for
Asylum and for Withholding of Removal) are helpful in
defining the eligibility criteria for asylum.
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