ASYLUM
For a person to be considered a refugee or asylee: (1) the person must have suffered past persecution or fear future persecution; (2) the fear must be well founded; (3) the persecution must be on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion; and (4) the alien must be unable or unwilling to return to his country of nationality or to the country in which he last habitually resided because of persecution or his well founded fear of persecution.
Who is Eligible to Apply?
Asylum may be granted to people who are arriving in or already physically present in the United States. To apply for asylum in the United States, you may ask for asylum at a port-of-entry (airport, seaport, or border crossing), or file an
Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, at the appropriate Service Center within one year of your arrival in the United States. You may apply for asylum regardless of your immigration status, whether you are in the United States legally or illegally.
You must apply for asylum within one year of your last arrival in the United States, but you may apply for asylum later than one year if there are changed circumstances that materially affect your eligibility for asylum or extraordinary circumstances directly related to your failure to file within one year. These may include certain changes in the conditions in your country, certain changes in your own circumstances, and certain other events. For a non-exhaustive list of circumstances that may be considered changed or extraordinary circumstances, see
8 CFR ยง 208.4. You must apply for asylum within a reasonable time given those circumstances.
You will 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 which materially affect your eligibility for asylum. You will also be barred if you could be removed to a safe third country pursuant to a bilateral or multilateral agreement.