There are two ways in which a foreign national inside the U.S. can apply for asylum.  A foreign national inside the U.S. can apply for asylum with USCIS.  If the applicant is under removal proceeding, he/she can apply with the immigration court.  If the applicant applied with USCIS and the application is denied, he/she can still apply with the immigration judge when and if he is ordered to be removed from the U.S.  Thus, a foreign national has two chances to file for an asylum application. 

To file for an asylum application, the foreign national must fill out form I-589, available on USCIS’s website.  This is a very complicated application and the applicant must show all requirements met.  Thus, it is crucial that the foreign national obtain professional help when filing.  The foreign national must gather documents to support his or her qualifications.  The most important document is the applicant’s affidavit.  The affidavit must describe in detail and show evidence that would make the foreign national a qualified applicant.  Other documents that may support the applicant’s arguments would be articles and statements of the country’s conditions, the political climate, evidence of government crack-downs, crime rate and statistics, articles of news papers, articles from human rights groups, any evidence that support the applicant’s contentions.  Essentially, the evidence from the applicant’s affidavit must be internally consistent and credible.  Other evidence must support the applicant’s position, thus showing that the applicant’s affidavit is externally consistent with information from other sources.

 

Contact the Immigration Lawyers at Smith & Garg today for more on how to apply for asylum.