Asylum is an immigration protection that allows someone to remain in the US with legal status if they came here because they were scared of persecution in their home country.
People can seek asylum if: they are in the United States (legally or illegally) and they have suffered or credibly fear they will suffer persecution in their country based on their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. You must apply for asylum within 1 year of arriving in the US. The asylum process can be lengthy and usually involves proving to a US Citizenship and Immigration Services officer or immigration judge that you actually faced or fear persecution in your home country.
Submitting an asylum application puts you in the affirmative asylum process. After you submit your application, you are typically allowed to live in the US until you get a decision on asylum or while you are appealing the decision. You can also apply for employment authorization 180 days after your asylum application so that you can legally work while you are waiting for your application to be reviewed. Because the asylum process is complicated and it is difficult to show that you have faced or fear persecution, you should have an immigration attorney for help navigating it.
If you are granted asylum, you are eligible to stay in the US indefinitely with lawful status, get authorization to work, apply for a Green Card after 1 year, and request asylum for your spouse and children (if unmarried and under 21). You can still lose asylum status based on criminal history, changes in your country of origin, or otherwise becoming ineligible for asylum. This is discussed more below.
If you have a pending asylum claim or appeal, carry proof of it with you.
No, asylum is not limited by your country of origin or to specific groups. Asylum seekers from any country can apply if they fear persecution in that country based on their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Whether someone is eligible for asylum will depend on the facts and what is happening in their country of origin. If you are already in the US and your country’s conditions change for the worse, you can apply for asylum based on recent changes causing you to fear persecution if you go back to that country.
For example, Hindus from the Muslim-majority nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh have fled those nations because they feared or faced persecution based on their religion and ultimately were granted asylum in the US.
You should try your very best to apply for asylum within one year of arriving in the US. Sometimes, that might not be possible.
You can still apply for asylum after you have been in the US for a year, but you will have to show that you applied in a reasonable amount of time after:
- changed circumstances materially affected your eligibility for asylum, or
- extraordinary circumstances that caused your delay in filing.
These are not easy to show and will make it harder to get asylum, so you should file for asylum as soon as possible.
Asylum applications ask for information about your spouse(s) and children, so you should provide that information regardless of where they live or their age. And if you are granted asylum, your spouse and unmarried children under 21 will also be able to stay in the US with you. If they are not already here, you can apply for your family to join you in the US.
Yes, you can lose your asylum status if something significant changes.
Asylum status can be terminated if:
- you commit certain crimes that pose a danger to the community in the US, engaged in terrorist activity or persecution of others, or had committed serious crimes before arriving in the US;
- your country’s conditions have fundamentally changed so that you no longer have a well-founded fear of persecution there;
- you obtain protection in another country;
- you can be removed to a different country with similar asylum/protected status where your life or freedom would not be threatened for your religion, race, social group, or political opinion;
- you voluntarily return to your own country or last country of residence with permanent resident status (or the ability to get that status); or
- you no longer meet the definition of an asylum seeker.
Note that there should still be a process through USCIS or immigration court to initiate the termination of asylum status, depending on who granted your asylum application and whether you have a Green Card.
In other words, you should still receive notice that your asylum status is being terminated and you should get an opportunity to appeal that decision. If you receive a notice of termination, speak to an immigration attorney immediately to discuss your options for appealing the decision – you will only have a short amount of time to appeal.
No, you cannot be deported while your asylum application is pending. Once you submit your asylum application, you are eligible for withholding of removal – that means that you cannot be deported until there is a final decision on your asylum request.
If you have a pending asylum case, carry proof of it with you to show that you cannot be deported.
Yes, you can still seek asylum while you are in removal proceedings (i.e. being deported), and that is called a defensive asylum application. You will still have to file an application for asylum. If you are dealing with an immigration officer over removal proceedings, let them know that you are fearful of persecution in your home country and ask to be referred to an asylum officer to review your asylum claim. If you are in immigration court, you should work with your immigration attorney to make the best case to help the judge understand why you are entitled to asylum.
