US Asylum Lawyer
Asylum in the USA. Any person who is physically present in the United States may apply for asylum. A person with granted asylum called asylee. Asylum may be granted to any person who qualifies as a refugee according it is definition stated in INA. The definition requires that the asylum applicant shows that he/she is unwilling or unable to return to his or her home country because of past persecution or well founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. Asylum may be granted regardless to persons' immigration status even if person in the United States unlawfully.
An applicant must demonstrate that there is a reasonable possibility of personal persecution. He/She must establish that a well founded fear by proving that a person in his or her circumstances would fear persecution.
Asylee is allowed to apply for permanent residency in the U.S. after one year after grant of asylum. If asylum is granted an applicant’s eligible spouse or children will be permitted to stay and work in the United States and later on adjust to lawful resident.
An applicant may apply affirmatively if he/she is not in removal proceedings or defensively if he/she is placed in removal proceedings.
Applicant must apply for asylum within one year after his physical presence in the United States, unless an applicant can show that change of circumstances that affected his eligibility for asylum or extra ordinary circumstances prevented from filing within one year.
If applicant is not qualified for asylum, for example because he/she applied more than a year after presence in the U.S., he/she could be granted withholding of removal. Person granted withholding of removal, unlike asylee, cannot apply for their spouses and children. He/she cannot apply for permanent residency.
To apply for Asylum, an applicant must file form I-589 and include all available evidence. Having an attorney makes the deference between an applicant winning or placed in removal before Immigration Court.
Q: What Will Be My Status After I Am Granted Asylum?
If an asylum granted, an applicant will have asylee status. He/She will receive an I-94 Arrival and Departure record documenting that he/she is able to remain indefinitely in the United States as an asylee, will be authorized to work in the United States for as long as he/she remains in asylee status, will also be able to request derivative asylum status for any spouse or child (unmarried and under 21 years of age as of the date you filed the asylum application, as long as asylum application was pending on or after August 6, 2002) who was not included as a dependent in the asylum decision and with whom person has a qualifying relationship. This means that you will be able to petition to bring your spouse and/or children to the United States, or allow them to remain in the United States indefinitely incident to your asylee status. Most importantly, asylee may apply for a permanent residency after one year after grant of asylum.