What is the United States Asylum Program and Who Benefits?
Asylum may be granted to people who are already in the United States and are unable or unwilling to return to their home country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. If you are granted asylum, you will be allowed to live and work in the United States. You also will be able to apply for permanent resident status one year after you are granted asylum. For more information on adjusting to permanent resident status, please see How Do I Become a Lawful Permanent Resident while in the United States?.

You may include your spouse and any unmarried children under the age of 21 in your own asylum application if your spouse or children are in the United States. If your spouse or children are outside the United States, see How Do I Get My Spouse or Children Derivative Asylum Status in the United States? See also, Application Procedures: Getting Derivative Asylum Status for Your Child, and Application Procedures: Getting Derivative Asylum Status for Your Spouse.

Asylum status and refugee status are closely related. They differ only in the place where a person asks for the status asylum is asked for in the United States; refugee status is asked for outside of the United States. However, all people who are granted asylum must meet the definition of a refugee. If you will apply outside the United States, please see How Do I Get Resettled in the United States as a Refugee?. If you do not qualify for asylum, but fear being tortured upon returning to your homeland, you can apply for consideration under the Torture Convention.

For an overview of the INS asylum program, please see the chapter and tables on Asylum in the INS Statistical Yearbook. Another overview is available in the general information document INS and Asylum in the U.S. Also see INS Fact Sheet: U.S. Asylum and Refugee Policy.

What Does the Law Say?
The legal foundation for this program comes from the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). For the part of the law concerning Asylum, please see INA § 208 (Asylum).Rules published in the Federal Register explain the eligibility requirements and procedures to be followed by applicants and the government to ask for and decide on asylum. These rules are incorporated into the Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] at 8 CFR § 208.

Who is Eligible?
To be eligible for asylum in the United States, you must ask for asylum at a port-of-entry (airport, seaport or border crossing), or file an application within one year of your arrival in the United States. You may ask later than one year if conditions in your country have changed or if your personal circumstances have changed within the past year prior to your asking for asylum, and those changes of circumstances affected your eligibility for asylum. You may also be excused from the one year deadline if extraordinary circumstance prevented you from filing within the one year period after your arrival, so long as you apply within a reasonable time given those circumstances. For a non-exhaustive list of circumstances that may excuse you from the one year deadline, please see 8 CFR § 208.4. You may apply for asylum regardless of your immigration status, meaning that you may apply even if you are illegally in the United States.

In addition, you must qualify for asylum under the definition of "refugee." Your eligibility will be based on information you provide on your application and during an interview with an Asylum Officer or Immigration Judge. If you have been placed in removal (deportation) proceedings in Immigration Court, an Immigration Judge will hear and decide your case. If you have not been placed in removal proceedings and apply with the INS, an Asylum Officer will interview you and decide whether you are eligible for asylum. Asylum Officers will grant asylum, deny asylum or refer the case to an Immigration Judge for a final decision. If an Asylum Officer finds that you are not eligible for asylum and you are in the United States illegally, the Asylum Officer will place you in removal proceedings and refer your application to an Immigration Judge for a final decision. Immigration Judges also decide on removal if an applicant is found ineligible for asylum and is illegally in the United States. If you are in valid immigrant or nonimmigrant status and the Asylum Officer finds that you are not eligible for asylum, the Asylum Officer will send you a notice explaining that the INS intends to deny your request for asylum. You will be given an opportunity to respond to that notice before a decision is made on your application.

The instructions attached to the application form for asylum, INS Form I-589 (Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal) are helpful in defining the eligibility criteria for asylum.

How Do I Apply?
To ask for asylum, you will need to complete an INS Form I-589 (Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal) and follow the instructions carefully. Forms are available by calling 1(800) 870-3676, or by submitting a request through our forms by mail system. There is no fee. You can normally expect to complete your asylum processing within 180 days from the date of filing your application. If you are applying with the INS for asylum, you should send your application to the INS Service Center that has jurisdiction over your place of residence. You will find information on where to send your application in the instructions to INS Form I-589. If you have been placed in proceedings before an Immigration Judge, you should file the form with the Immigration Court. See also, Application Procedures: Getting Derivative Asylum Status for Your Child, and Application Procedures: Getting Derivative Asylum Status for Your Spouse.

Can I Travel Outside the United States?
If you are applying for asylum and you want to travel outside the United States, you must receive advance permission before you leave the United States in order to return to the United States. This advance permission is called Advance Parole. If you do not apply for Advance Parole before you leave the country, you will abandon your application with the INS and you may not be permitted to return to the United States. If your application for asylum is approved, you may apply for a Refugee Travel Document. This document will allow you to travel abroad and return to the United States. For more information, see How Do I Get a Travel Document?.

Will I Get a Work Permit?
Asylum applicants can not apply for employment authorization at the same time they apply for asylum. Rather, you must wait 150 days after the INS receives a complete application before you can apply for employment authorization. The INS has 30 days to either grant or deny your request for employment. Please see How Do I Get a Work Permit? for more information.

How Can I Find Out About the Status of My Application?
Please contact the INS Asylum Office that received your application. You should be prepared to provide the INS staff with specific information about your application. Please click here for complete instructions on checking the status of your application. Click here for information on INS offices.

How Can I Appeal?
Applicants will be interviewed by an Asylum Officer or an Immigration Judge. The Asylum Officer will either approve your application or refer it to an Immigration Judge for a final decision. If the Immigration Judge denies your asylum application, you will receive a letter telling you how to appeal the decision. Generally, you may appeal within 33 days of receiving the denial. After your appeal form and a required fee are processed, the appeal will be referred to the Board of Immigration Appeals in Washington, D.C. For more information, please see, How Do I Appeal?.

Can Anyone Help Me?
If advice is needed, prospective applicants may contact the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The High Commissioner's representative in the United States may be reached in Washington, DC at (202) 296-5191. You may also contact the INS District Office or Asylum Office near your home for a list of community-based, non-profit organizations that may be available to help asylum applicants with advice and help during their processing. Please see our INS field offices home page for more information on contacting INS offices. In addition, please see our Webpage that provides information on free legal advice.

Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]
Do you want further information? Click here for Frequently Asked Questions on Asylum.

The above information has been obtained from INS and was last modified on 6/4/2002