Documentation Needed for Asylum
By Julie Sparks in Asylum | Immigration | on 2023-02-08 15:31:59
For asylum applications, the people fleeing persecution in their native countries can apply in the United States. Only a few are eligible for the application. They also need to follow a specific process that involves complex paperwork. You want help from an Asylum lawyer with your asylum application.
Eligibility for Asylum solicitation in the United States
You are eligible to apply for asylum status in the United States if you satisfy the following requirements:
- If you meet the definition of a refugee.
- You are presently in the United States, or
- You are at a port of entry to the United States.
Filing a Complete Asylum Applications Package
If you are eligible to apply for asylum, then you will need to file paperwork with the appropriate immigration office to request asylum protection.
The paperwork you will need to file includes different things, starting with Form I-589 Application for Asylum. Information contained in the application will be the primary information an immigration officer reviewing your file will consider, so the application form must be accurate and complete. If there are errors or incomplete information in the application, then your asylum could be denied, or you will be asked to fix the errors or provide the missing information.
As part of your basic application package, your attorney will need to include the following items:
- Copies of any identification documents that you have, such as your birth certificate, identity card from the country you are fleeing or where you most recently lived, driver’s license, and the like
- Copies of any passport you may have, copies of any U.S. immigration document such as I-94 Arrival/Departure Record.
- A recent passport-size photograph
- Two copies of any passport that you have and of any U.S. immigration documents (such as your I-94 Arrival/Departure Record)
Include the following items and one copy with your asylum application as applicable:
- A detailed declaration about your experience as a refugee.
- Affidavits and letters of support from your family or friends. As a testimony to the harm, you were subjected to in the country from which you fled.
- Declaration by a medical professional who examined you and attested to the physical abuse you were subjected to in your native country from which you seek protection.
- Expert declaration from a medical professional such as a psychologist or psychiatrist who examined you and has offered their professional conclusions. As evidence of the emotional issues, you are dealing with directly related to the persecution or harm you were subjected to in your country.
- Reports describing human rights abuses in your country and original and copy of any other official descriptions of your country’s conditions such as the one provided by the State Department.
Learn How an Austin Asylum Request Lawyer Can Assist You
If you are in the United States and cannot return to your native country for fear of persecution, contact J. Sparks Law, PLLC, today and schedule your initial consultation. We can discuss your situation and offer counsel on your best way forward.
Julie Sparks is Board-certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Immigration and Nationality Law, one of a few such attorneys in Texas. After 15 years of practice in this field, she has represented immigrants from more than 70 countries.
Ms. Sparks is a member of the Texas Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Julie has also been a featured speaker at Southwestern Law School and at the national 2015 AILA Fundamentals Conference.
- 15 years of practice in this field.
- She also founded and managed a non-profit organization representing indigent immigrants seeking asylum.
- Julie is a former immigration law instructor at the Pepperdine School of Law in Malibu, California, and California State University – Los Angeles.
