Asylum & TP Status: Frequently Asked Questions

The following questions and answers are based on those frequently posed to the Attorneys and staff at Chávez & Associates, P.C., L.L.O. We generously share this information as a courtesy to our clients and the immigrant community.

Should you have questions that are not addressed in this FAQ section, contact us for professional and personalized legal counsel.

Q. Who qualifies for asylum?

A. Any person who is outside it’s country of nationality or in the case that the person has no nationality, is outside any country in which he or she last resided and who has been persecuted or has a well-founded fear of being persecuted on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, political opinion or imputed political. The person must be unable or unwilling to avail him or herself of the protection of that country due to the persecution.

Q. What constitutes persecution?

A. The Board of Immigration Appeals has held that persecution may take many forms. Persecution can include: female genital mutilation, economic deprivation, threats to a person’s life, beatings, rape, and detention combined with physical punishment.

Q. Does the government need to be the persecutor?

A. No, the government does not need to be the persecutor. The Board of Immigration Appeals held that it might also be any person or group that the government is unable or unwilling to control.

Q. Is it possible to get asylum if there is past persecution?

A. Yes. It is possible if the persecution was based on one of the five related grounds and the country conditions have not changed.

Q. Is it possible to get asylum if there was no past persecution?

A. Yes. The applicant must establish a well-founded fear of persecution if he or she returns to their country. This means that there must be a reasonable possibility of suffering persecution upon return.

Q. Is it possible to work while the INS is adjudicating a person’s application for asylum?

A. Yes. Any applicant for asylum may apply for a work permit. The applicant must, however, wait 150 days after the filing of the form I-589, Application for Asylum to apply. Work permits usually take 90 days to be processed.

Q. Is there any deadline for the filing of an asylum application?

A. Yes. The law requires that the applicant file at the port-of-entry or within one year of arrival. There are exceptions for the one-year deadline for extraordinary circumstances or if conditions in your country have changed or if your personal circumstances have changed within the past year prior to applying for asylum, and those changes of circumstances affected your eligibility for asylum.

Q. Is it possible to travel outside the United States while my application is being adjudicated?

A. Yes. The applicant may seek Advanced Parole from the INS in order to travel outside the United States. In many cases, however, the INS will automatically deny the applicant's request for Advanced Parole. Generally, an applicant for asylum should be advised against appyling for Advanced Parole. The reason for this is because that it is presumed under the law that if one travels to the country of persecution, he would no longer possess a well-founded fear of persecution. (Please note that this practitioner has seen cases where individuals who have been granted Advanced Parole have subsequently been placed under removal proceedings under their return to the United States.) Third country travel is permissible.

Q. Is it possible to include relatives in an asylum application?

A. Yes. The applicant may include their spouse or any unmarried children under the age of 21 if they are in the United States. If the applicant is granted asylee status and the relatives are outside the United States the asylee may file an I-730 Asylee Relative Petition. The relationship must have existed when you were granted asylum and must be in existence when you file the I-730, Asylee Relative Petition. The asylee’s children may enter the United States at any time prior to their 21st birthday while the spouse may enter at any time.

Q. How does the process of adjudication work?

A. If the applicant is not under removal proceedings, the applicant is then scheduled for an interview with an asylum officer. If the asylum officer grants asylum, the applicant will then be granted asylee status. If the case is not granted, the applicant is then referred to an immigration judge for a new hearing on the application for asylum. If the judge denies the grant of asylum, then the respondent may then appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals.