What is a Refugee?
A “refugee” is a person who is outside the United States seeking entry. If you believe that you are in need of protection, you may wish to make your concern known to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or to an international non profit voluntary agency. If either of these organizations is unavailable to you, you should contact the nearest American embassy or consulate.
What is an Ayslee?
An “asylee” is a person who is already inside the United States, or at a port of entry, who is seeking to stay. Such status must be established through a CIS or State Department determination which will ordinarily require a hearing on the merits of the refugee or asylum seekers claims.
Form I-589 is used to apply for asylum in the United States and for withholding of removal (formerly called "withholding of deportation"). You may file for asylum if you are physically in the United States and you are not a United States citizen. Asylum applications should be sent to Service Centers, depending on where the applicant resides in the United States.
How Do I Know if I Qualify?
When applying, a person seeking refugee or asylee status must be outside his or her country of nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, outside any country in which that person last habitually resided. He or she must be unable or unwilling to return to, or unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of, his or her country. Refugee or Asylum status will only be granted if the person applying has been subjected to persecution or has a well founded fear of being persecuted in his or her home country because of one or more of the following:
- race
- religion
- nationality
- membership in a particular social group
- political opinion
This can be, and usually is, a very difficult and complex legal question in which the advocacy of council is highly recommended. One should not attempt this process without the assistance of a qualified U.S. Immigration attorney. |
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