Restrictions when Applying for Asylum in Prince William County

There are a number of things that can disqualify a person from being eligible for asylum.

• Submitting an application for asylum more than a year after initially arriving in the United States, meaning there is a year timeframe to apply for asylum
• If they have been here longer than a year then they are going to have to prove extraordinary circumstances that prevented them from applying.

If you or a family member need help understanding the restrictions when applying for asylum in Prince William County, a compassionate asylum lawyer can help you clarify the process.

Disqualifying for Asylum

Disqualifying for an application for asylum does not mean the individual is not eligible for asylum. It is an uphill battle if they are applying for asylum after they are present in the US. Another thing that can disqualify someone is if they have been convicted of certain criminal offenses, there are a number or criminal offenses that would disqualify a person from being eligible for applying for asylum. In those applying for asylum cases, the individual definitely needs to speak to an attorney because they may be eligible for another type of benefit like protection under the convention against torture or withholding of removal; they have a less strenuous disqualification.

Applying For Asylum

When applying for asylum, it is important to note the filing deadline and make sure that, if at all possible, the application for asylum is filed within a year of arriving in the United States. Making sure that a person’s case or their application is structured in a way that fits into the current state of asylum law and remembering the persecution they fear in their home country are also important to keep in mind when applying for asylum.

Reasonable fear explanations for applying for asylum can be race, religion, nationality, and a membership in a particular social group and those are decisions that need to made with the client and their immigration attorney when they are deciding which particular social group that they are a member of that gives the basis to their asylum claim. The individual should also pay to attention to is whether they can also apply for work authorization while their asylum application is pending, 150 days after the application is received.

Affirmative Application for Asylum

If a person is applying for asylum affirmatively in Prince William County, they can use the receipt date that the Texas Service Center receives their application; when they have a receipt date then they need to start counting those 150 days after the application has been received. If a person is in immigration court they can actually lodge their asylum application with the court before they have a hearing. This can be important for some people because sometimes they will be in immigration court and wanting to apply for asylum but their hearing date will be set for more than a year after their date of arrival in the United States.

In applying for asylum cases that get to immigration court, it is important to do something called lodge their asylum application prior to their hearing date. That can be done by mailing just the bare bones of the asylum form itself, the 589. The application for asylum can be sent into the immigration court along with the self-address prepaid envelopes to get it returned with the date stamp on it showing that it has been lodged, or they can just go into the immigration court clerk’s office and request them to give them the date stamp and record the application for asylum. That is the important thing to do in order to preserve the one-year eligibility.