Timing of Asylum Applications

Answer:

To get asylum in the United States it used to take years. They’ve since modified it. After you’ve applied for asylum or claim asylum, they’re supposed to be giving responses within several weeks as to whether they’re going to approve or deny it, but our experience is that it takes much longer than that. It’s going faster, but it’s not as fast as you would think.

Typically, the process is slow. You would file an application. First you would request asylum from the United States. You can do that either at the airport or through your attorney, and then you would file a petition for asylum. You also want to defer deportation as well at the same time. Then the asylum process would begin. They would interview you. You’d have to provide quite a significant amount of evidence of what persecution you’re facing when you go there, why you shouldn’t go there, and these types of things.

There’s no easy answer. They keep changing the goal post on asylum claims. There’s been such an influx of asylum from Venezuela, and from people coming in through the southern border from other countries seeking asylum, that they’ve kind of bounced the requirements several times. In our experience, it’ll usually be well over a year before you get anything.

Just a denial of asylum by itself doesn’t mean that you’re automatically going to get deported. Asylum seekers, many times, get denied even if we request a hearing or have a trial. There are other things we can do to avoid you being deported, even if you’re denied. It can be a long process. For this or any other questions, feel free to give us a call.