Removal and Deportation

Immigration Attorneys in Los Angeles, Lawyer, Lawyer, Attorney > Removal and Deportation

ASYLUM AND REFUGEE STATUS

The Refugee Act of 1980 provides for refugees and asylees who establish that they are victims of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political affiliation.

There are some differences between refugee and asylum processes.  Unlike asylum, refugee status can only be obtained if you are outside your own country and outside the United States, and if you are unwilling or unable to return because of a well-founded fear of persecution.  Your application must be filed either with the nearest INS office outside the U.S. or at a designated U.S. Consulate.  The President of the United States in consultation with Congress determines how many refugees may enter the United States each year and from which countries.  If you are in the U.S. or at the land border of the U.S. and believe you are victim of persecution, you can apply for asylum.  You can file this application even if you are here illegally or if you are in deportation or exclusion proceedings.

Whether applying as a refugee or as an asylee, you would be interviewed in an attempt to determine whether your claim is bona fide and whether your application should be approved.

Your eligibility for refugee or asylee status may be affected if it is alleged that you have been involved in the persecution of other persons, if you have been firmly resettled in another country, if you have been convicted of an especially serious crime, or committed a serious non-political crime prior to coming to the U.S.  Under new procedural guidelines applicants for asylum will first be interviewed by a specially trained officer of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.  Only after a determination that an applicant has a “non-frivolous” claim will employment authorization be granted.  If an application is denied, then an Order to Show Cause starting deportation proceedings is filed.  However, the applicant is entitled to renew his or her claim for asylum before the Immigration Judge and appeal any adverse decision to the Board of Immigration Appeal and the courts.

If asylum is granted, then the applicant and his or her immediate family are eligible to apply for permanent resident status the following year.

You may be required to document that the circumstances in your home country have not changed and you are still unwilling or unable to return to the prosecution.  Since there is a limited number of visas available, successful applicants often have to wait another period of time before becoming permanent residents.

.