Have you received asylum and want to know how you can apply for citizenship? Read this article about asylum tips in Orlando and contact us.
Asylum to Green Card
People that are here on asylum, a lot of times, ask whether they can become permanent residents or if they can in some other way work towards getting citizenship. You certainly can. Asylum by itself is technically not an immigrant type of a situation. The United States is basically saying that they’re going to allow you to stay in the United States, with the understanding that, if the persecution or the danger that you face in your country dissipates or is alleviated, you’re going to return to your country.
However, while you’re here, you can make any other type of application that you want. For example, people that are here on asylum fall in love and want to marry someone, and they can apply to adjust their status to get a marriage visa. There are ways to become either a permanent resident or a citizen in the United States when you’re here through asylum. It’s not a direct process from asylum to green card, to citizenship, but there are certainly ways.
We can work with you to see if someone might be able to sponsor you while you’re here. That can be time consuming as well – it depends on your circumstances – but there are certainly different ways that you can transition from being here on asylum, to getting a green card, to potentially becoming a citizen of the United States.
Timing of the Asylum Applications
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.
Seeking Asylum in the U.S.
Orlando, Florida, has a very large Venezuelan population. A lot of Venezuelans have come given the recent or not recent situations that country has suffered. Most of them seek asylum because of the danger and the situations that’s happened in that country. For you to qualify for asylum, you have to show that you’re being persecuted either because of your political views, your sexual orientation, your religious views. You have to show that you’re being persecuted and that you are going to be in some type of danger, whether it’s incarceration or physical danger if you return to your country. Under those circumstances, the United States will allow you to remain here until that danger has subsided, which is basically asylum. That is basically the standard that you have to show. It can’t be a generalized fear of, “My country’s not doing well. It’s dangerous. The crime is high.” Those are more generalized fears that really would not qualify you specifically for asylum. If you’re involved in political activity or if you’re a member of a protected class, such as your sexual orientation, under those circumstances, if there’s a direct risk to you because of those activities or because of that situation, then you may qualify for asylum in the United States.
Do you or your loved need help with immigration related legal matters and have questions about asylum tips in Orlando? Contact our experienced Orlando immigration lawyers today for a free consultation and case evaluation.