The U.S. Political Asylum Process

If you are planning to seek political asylum in the United States from your home country, secure legal counsel as soon as possible. Arrivals in the U.S. have one year in which to file an application for political asylum. Your immigration lawyer will be able to offer you assistance with application forms, supplementary documents and translation services. The United Nations High Commisioner for Refugees is another resource for help in applying.

Starting your journey with informed individuals who can help will give you the confidence to see the process through. Each year, out of more than 40,000 applications for asylum, over 3,000 are abandoned. Knowing what lies ahead will also prepare you to pursue your dream of asylum in America.

While there are many steps to the procedure, they are well defined and relatively expedient.

Applying for Political Asylum

1. Enter the United States. You will either request asylum at your place of entry, such as an airport or border crossing, or you will enter undetected as an alien and request asylum by application within one year of arrival.

It is not always safe or opportune for refugees to divulge their political status. The law recognizes the extenuating circumstances of flight from persecution. You will still be eligible to apply even if your presence in the country is illegal. An asylum officer or judge will evaluate your decision to enter illegally against other circumstances of the need to leave your home country. Make sure you hire a immigration lawyer to help you with this process.

2. File an application. Use available social services and legal help in following the directions for filing the federal Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal, Form I-589.

An immigration lawyer can determine whether you meet eligibility requirements. Attorneys can also review applications to ensure that the strongest possible case for asylum is made. Whocanisue.com has the largest directory of trained immigration lawyers on the Web.

You don’t have to pay a fee for filing, although there are other conditions you’ll have to meet before your application can be processed (see below). The form literature will tell you which United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office to mail the paperwork. Your case is very important to you, but don’t call to check on your status just yet. The service center will let you know when it receives your forms.  

3. Appear for fingerprinting. The service center will send you a notice shortly to appear at a designated office or police station for a background check. They will take your fingerprints and run them by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for a criminal review. As soon as the USCIS receives the FBI report, your application can move on in the asylum-granting process.

4. Prepare for your interview. In addition to your application material and information gained about your background, an asylum officer or judge will use an interview to assess your viability for asylum. Go over your case with your attorney and get some coaching on how to successfully present yourself in the interview. You will receive a notice from USCIS shortly with the date, time and place for your interview.

5. Attend your interview. It sounds simple, but showing up on time is a must. An officer or judge can close your case if you fail to show up or fail to provide a valid excuse for not attending. You can and should bring an attorney with you to the political asylum interview. If you cannot speak English well enough for an interview, you must bring an interpreter. You are also allowed to bring character witnesses who can testify in your behalf.

6. Wait for a decision. You’ll be notified to come in and retrieve your decision from the service center shortly.

If you or a family member is seeking political asylum in the United States, consult an immigration attorney right away! You’ll want to ask critical questions such as: how long have you been practicing law; do you have experience with immigration cases; how many political asylum cases have you won? Whocanisue.com has the largest directory of trained attorneys on the Web!