Asylum/Humanitarian Applications

If you are in the U.S. and are afraid to return to your home country because you have been threatened or harmed, or fear you will be threatened or harmed due to your race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or your membership in a “Particular Social Group” (such as gender, sexual orientation, ethnic group, etc.), you may be eligible to apply for Asylum or another form of relief (Withholding of Removal, Convention Against Torture, or others). 

If you are in the U.S. but are not in removal proceedings, you will apply for Affirmative Asylum with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Affirmative Asylum applications are submitted to a USCIS office and a USCIS officer will decide the case at after an interview. 

If you are in the U.S. and are in removal proceedings with an immigration court, you will apply “defensively” which means you will submit your application to the court and an Immigration Judge will issue a decision after a hearing. 

No matter your situation, your chances of success greatly increase if you hire an attorney to help you fill out your application and collect evidence. Both affirmative and defensive cases are complicated and can take several years to complete.