Eligibility for Asylum
Asylum in the United States is available for people who have suffered, or fear persecution in their country based on race, religion, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.
Humanitarian Immigration.
How to Seek Asylum in the United States
There are two Forms of asylum – affirmative and defensive.
Affirmative asylum must be filed with USCIS within 1 year of your arrival in the United States by filing a Form I-589 Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal https://www.uscis.gov/i-589. You must include evidence of the persecution and copies of your civil documents. There us no government fee to apply.
After you apply for asylum you will receive a receipt notice with your unique application receipt number. You and your eligible family members may also appl for work authorization if your asylum application has been pending for more than 150 days.
Before your asylum can be decided, you will be invited for an interview where a Asylum Officer will interview you and ask you questions about your case. If your asylum is approved, you will then be able to apply for a green card.
If your asylum is denied, or if you entered the United States unlawfully and were apprehended, you will have to make a defensive asylum application with EOIR (Immigration Court). You will have to convince the Immigration Judge to grant your asylum. If the Judge approved your asylum, you will be allowed to remain in the United States and eventually apply for a green card.
