Every year people come to the United States seeking protection because they have suffered persecution or fear that they will suffer persecution due to:

Race
Religion
Nationality
Membership in a particular social group
Political opinion

Can I Stay Back in the United States if I am Eligible for Asylum?

If you are eligible for asylum you may be permitted to remain in the United States
To apply for asylum, file a Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, within one year of your arrival to the United States
There is no fee to apply for asylum

Can I Include My Spouse and Children?

You may include your spouse and children who are in the United States on your application at the time you file or at any time until a final decision is made on your case
To include your child on your application, the child must be under 21 and unmarried. For more information see our Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal page
If you have an asylum application pending with the USCIS, you can check your case status online. All you need is the receipt number that we mailed you after you filed your application

Start here: uscis.gov/casestatus

Can I Bring my Spouse and My Children to The United States After Receiving Asylum?

If you are granted asylum you may petition to bring your spouse and children to the United States by filing a Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition
To include your child on your application, the child must be under 21 and unmarried
You must file the petition within two years of being granted asylum unless there are humanitarian reasons to excuse this deadline
There is no fee to file this petition

When Can I File for Permanent Residency?

U.S. immigration law allows asylees to apply for lawful permanent resident (LPR) status after they have been physically present in the U.S. for at least one year since being granted asylum
To apply for a Green Card, file a Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status
You must submit a separate I-485 application packet for yourself and, if applicable, for each family member who received derivative asylum based on your case
For more information about Green Cards, see USCIS’s Green Cards for Asylees page

However, you will not be eligible to apply for asylum if you: ·

Filed your application after being in the United States for more than one year

However, you may still qualify for an exception if you show the following:

changed circumstances materially affecting your asylum eligibility for asylum or
extraordinary circumstances relating to your delay in filing
You must still file your application within a reasonable time under the circumstances to be eligible for an exception

Changed circumstances may include but are not limited to:

Changes in conditions in your country of nationality or, if you are stateless, your country of last habitual residence
Changes in your circumstances that materially affect your eligibility for asylum, including changes in applicable U.S. law and activities you become involved in outside the country of feared persecution that place you at risk
If you were previously included as a dependent in someone else’s pending asylum application, the loss of the spousal or parent-child relationship to the principal applicant through marriage, divorce, death, or attainment of age 21

Extraordinary circumstances may include but are not limited to: ·

Serious illness or mental or physical disability, including any effects of persecution or violent harm suffered in the past, during the 1-year period after your arrival in the U.S.
Legal disability, such as your status as an unaccompanied minor or you suffered from a mental impairment, during the 1-year period after your arrival in the U.S.

Ineffective assistance of counsel, if:

You file an affidavit explaining in detail the agreement that you had with your lawyer about the actions to be taken by your lawyer on your behalf and what your lawyer told you he or she would do for you
You have informed the lawyer whom you are criticizing of the accusations against him or her and the lawyer has been given an opportunity to respond
You indicate whether you have filed a complaint with appropriate disciplinary authorities about any violation of your lawyer’s ethical or legal responsibilities, and if not, why not
You had Temporary Protected Status (TPS), lawful immigrant or nonimmigrant status, or you were given parole, until a reasonable period before you filed your asylum application
You filed an asylum application before the expiration of the 1-year deadline, but USCIS rejected your application as not properly filed, returned the application to you for corrections, and you re-filed your application within a reasonable time after the return
The death or serious illness or incapacity of your legal representative or a member of your immediate family

For a list of circumstances that may be considered changed or extraordinary circumstances, see 8 CFR 208.4 and the Asylum Bars page.

You will also be barred from applying for asylum if you previously applied for asylum and were denied by the Immigration Judge or Board of Immigration Appeals unless you demonstrate that there are changed circumstances that affect your eligibility for asylum
You will also be barred if you could be removed to a safe third country to a two-party or multi-party agreement
Currently, the United States has a safe third country agreement with Canada that does not apply to you if you are applying for asylum affirmatively with USCIS
The agreement only applies in Credible Fear Screenings
For more information about the safe third country agreement with Canada, see the Questions & Answers: Credible Fear Screenings page
For more information about bars to applying, see the Asylum Bars page

Please Note

Information your asylum-related information may not be shared with third parties without the asylum applicant’s written consent or the Secretary of Homeland Security’s specific authorization

When Can I Apply for Naturalization?

If you were granted asylum in the United States, a maximum of one year of your time in asylee status counts as permanent residence
Please note, if you waited longer than a year to apply for your green card, that extra time will not count towards your naturalization
You can also turn in your USCIS Form N-400 (Citizenship Application) 90 days before your required years of permanent residence have passed. This 90-day period compensates for the fact that USCIS might not act on your application (or call you in for an interview) for at least that amount of time

Your Immigration File

· It gives U.S. Immigration Citizenship Services (USCIS) another chance to review your immigration file and your life events after you received the asylum
If you recently obtained U.S. asylum, be mindful of this possibility and ensure that you do not do anything that could hurt your future citizenship
And If you are ready to apply for naturalization now, you should carefully consider and address any of these issues that might apply to you

Scenario 1

USCIS will Recheck Whether or not Your Asylum Claim was Bona Fide?

When USCIS reviews a former asylee’s application for naturalization, it wants to make sure that the person’s underlying asylum claim was bonafide
USCIS might look closely at the person’s naturalization application and history in the United States to make sure that it is consistent with the reasons he or she requested asylum
For example, if a man requested asylum because he feared persecution in his home country based on his sexual preference of liking a same-sex partner
But he married a woman instead of a man
USCIS might wonder if he lied about his sexual orientation on his asylum application
If a Christian pastor fled his home country because the government was persecuting Christians, but now is a practicing Muslim
USCIS could believe that he lied about his religion to receive asylum
In both of these cases, the underlying asylum claim might truly be bona fide, and the person’s life might simply have changed significantly since the application for asylum
Nevertheless, USCIS will look closely at the application and could deny it if the applicant cannot offer a strong explanation for the discrepancies
You should be able to explain such changes is by providing corroborating documentation

Include a letter explaining the change in life circumstances along with your application.

Scenario 2

USCIS Will Examine Your Travel History

If a person travels back to his or her home country after receiving asylum, USCIS could suspect that that person did not actually fear persecution when applying for asylum
Frequent travel to the home country might make USCIS very suspicious
If you have traveled back to your home country at all since receiving asylum, you will need to explain to USCIS why you did so (perhaps for an urgent matter that outweighed the risks) and show that the underlying risk of persecution on your asylum application was real

Finally, think about why you traveled to your home country, and prepare to show the USCIS why that travel should not undercut your initial asylum eligibility

Provide copies of any documentation that proves your explanation.

Scenario 3

USCIS May Look for Your Name on the INTERPOL List of Criminals and Terrorists

Occasionally, a person receives asylum in the United States and later appears on the Interpol “wanted person” list
The person might appear on the list due to having committed a crime in the home country, or due to mistaken identity, or because of involvement in a terrorist organization, even without having known it was a terrorist organization at the time
USCIS takes the Interpol “wanted person” list seriously
If your name is on it, even if the reason was a mistake, it could seriously impact your naturalization case

If you believe that you could be on the Interpol “wanted person” list, contact an immigration attorney immediately to discuss your options.

Scenario 4

USCIS Will Want to See That You Registered for the Selective Service

Every male U.S. citizen or immigrant between the ages of 18 and 25 is required to register for the Selective Service
That means filling out a form that provides your name and address in case the United States ever needs to rapidly expand the armed forces in an emergency

This failure can affect a person’s application for naturalization.

Scenario 5

USCIS Will Look for Inconsistencies Between Your Application for Naturalization and for Asylum

A common problem for former asylees who are now applying for naturalization is that they make statements on their N-400 Application for Naturalization that are different from either the information they gave on their I-589 Application for Asylum or in their testimony when applying for asylum.

Some of the most common types of inconsistencies are:

Failure to list all of the organizations and groups the person claimed to be a member of on the asylum application
Claiming relatives on Form N-400 that the applicant did not claim on the asylum application, and
Checking “No” on any of the questions involving criminal activity or arrests when the persecution in the asylum application involved arrests or criminal charges in the individual’s home country

Your first step is to accurately fill out your Form N-400

If, however, any such inconsistencies reflect actual facts in your case, you should explain to the USCIS officer about those discrepancies

Certain inconsistencies could result in a bar to naturalization or cast doubt on the statements you made in your underlying asylum application

You should also be aware of red flags in general before submitting an N-400, application for naturalization

A detailed discussion about those red flags can be found here

Ustun Law Group will help you eliminate the common errors that create delays, rejections, and even denials.

For more information about our firm, becoming a client, or to schedule a consultation, please contact us using the form on this page or give us a call at 469-994-9407

Things to Consider Before Seeking Naturalized U.S. Citizenship, if you are a former Asylee: