What is Political Asylum in the USA?

If you have a relative or friend who is applying for political asylum in the United States, it is in your best interest to find out as much as you can about the process so that you can prepare yourself in case there are changes to how this option will be considered. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) provides important information on what to expect when dealing with U.S. Immigration authorities. You can also find out about resources available for people wishing to aid those seeking political asylum.

What Documents do I need for a Political Asylum application?

When preparing your application for USCIS, our immigration experts help ensure you have all of the required documents including:

• two sets of Form I-589 (the original you filled out, plus one copy)
• For the Form I-589, you will need quote a bit of information:
• your physical address in the U.S. (plus the ZIP code if it's larger than 1,000),
• your date of birth,
• both your signed copies of the returns (our immigration experts will assist with this step),
• a notarized statement from a physician attesting to your physical and mental health conditions,
• your signature, and a proof of legal presence if you submitted one last year.
• You also may want to submit biometrics (such as a fingerprint) if applying by mail.
• one recent passport-size photograph of you
• two copies of any passport that you have and of any U.S. immigration documents (such as your I-94 Arrival/Departure Record)
• two copies of other identification documents that you have, such as your birth certificate, national identity card, or driver's license, and
• fee ($50 on or after October 2, 2020).

Since USCIS will probably never return the documents included in your political asylum application,  we never include originals of the immigration or identity documents. Instead, once your asylum interview is scheduled we'll remind you to bring all original documents, where the Asylum Officer can examine them in person.

Working with Saenz-Rodriguez and Associates, we also help clients prepare the following to include in the Political Asylum application:

• one original and one copy of your declaration
• one original and one copy of declarations from friends or family who witnessed how you were harmed or threatened in your home country
• one original and one copy of an expert declaration from a medical expert who has examined you for evidence of physical abuse you suffered in your country
• one original and one copy of an expert declaration from a psychologist or psychiatrist who has examined you for evidence of emotional problems you are suffering as a result of harm you suffered in your country
• one original and one copy of an expert declaration from a human rights activist or an academic who is familiar with human rights abuses in your country
• one original and one copy of country-conditions reports and any news clippings explaining human rights abuses in your country and what had happened to you
• any other materials that confirm what had happened to you in your home country, including photographs that show how you were harmed, threatening letters, newspaper articles describing how you were harmed, official government documents, and so forth.
• a cover letter, listing what's in the application and mentioning any special requests; see, for example, Can I Ask for a Female Asylum Officer and Interpreter?

Once your political asylum application is completed, we then make an additional copy of everything for your own records, (and one for ours).

How Long Does the Asylum Process Take?

The asylum process can take years to conclude. In some cases, a person may file his or her application or pass a credible or reasonable fear screening and receive a hearing or interview date years in the future. The length of time can vary depending on the type of claim being filed (for example, a refugee vs permissive status request), the number of applicants awaiting decision or approval, and other factors. Some people have been in the country for as long as 20 years without gaining legal status but may still be waiting on a decision from an immigration official or other third party.

From the American Immigration Council's FACT SHEET Asylum in the United States:

• As of September 2019, there were 339,836 affirmative asylum applications pending with USCIS. The government does not estimate the time it will take to schedule an initial interview for these asylum applicants, though historically the delay could reach four years.
• The backlog in U.S. immigration courts reached an all-time high in April 2020, with over 1.17 million open removal cases. On average, these cases had been pending for 734 days and remained unresolved.
• Individuals with an immigration court case who were ultimately granted relief—such as asylum—by February 2020 waited more than 930 days on average for that outcome. Illinois and Virginia had the longest wait times, averaging 1,300 days until relief was granted in the immigration case.