lin law group
Any alien may file an application for Political Asylum and Withholding of Removal.
This form of relief may be filed affirmatively with the Immigration Service or defensively with the Immigration Court. The burden of proof is on the alien to establish that he qualifies as a refugee and that he is unable or unwilling to return to his country for that reason. This may be shown by establishing that he has experienced severe past persecution or a has well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
The applicant will need to provide background material to prove his claim to asylum, such as newspaper articles, affidavits of witnesses or experts, periodicals, journals, books, photographs, official documents, other personal statements or evidence regarding incidents that have occurred. The applicant must establish how the general evidence is relevant to his specific circumstance and why he has a well-founded fear of persecution.
The application for asylum should be filed within one year after arrival in the United States unless exceptional circumstances exist to excuse late filing.
The application for asylum may include the spouse and unmarried children under 21 years of age regardless of whether or not they are living in the United States.
Employment authorization may be granted to an asylum applicant after the application for asylum has been pending for at least 150 days..
