Asylum Interview and Decision Pickup Process

Y

YAHA12

Registered Users (C)
Hello.

Could someone tell me how the decision pickup process works for the political asylum. I had my interview yesterday and was given a paper that said I should come back in 14 days between 1 and 3 pm. Does that mean I could show up there anytime within that range? Will I have to wait a long time again or its pretty much instantaneous?

Also, was anyone heavily criticized by the IO during interview? I mean the guy literally busted my ***** about every piece of forensic evidence or lack of thereof. I defended my evidence (which I know to be true and 100% authentic) and case to the best of my ability, but overall I have a pretty mediocre feeling about my perspectives to receive an approval without going through the Immigration Court. My total interview lasted 45 min max. Out of those 45 minutes, around 25 min were spent to discuss my previous statuses in the United States. It seemed as the IO thoroughly researched my case and knew extremely well what to talk about. He only stopped on very particular things and details of the case.


Any input is appreciated.
 
I am a little confused. If this is a Political Asylum Board, I think it is right to assume that a great majority of the members here went through asylum interviews some time in the past. Could someone share some of the details of their interview or maybe relatively compare the atmosphere of their interview with that of mine.

P.S. Sorry if I sound frustrated and impatient, I just think that I blew my interview. :(
 
Well, I had my interview before an Asylum Officer back in 2005, lasted 3 hours and by the end of it I knew pretty much what the decision would be (I had the feeling that I did not make it). In my case I had to wait for the decision to come in the mail as I live away from the Immigration Office. When I got it I was not surprise at all to see that I was referred to Immigration Judge.

Now, the Asylum Officer I went before was a naturalized Polack, who with the power that has been given to him, felt that he has to reject everyone’s case (I heard so many other cases before same guy being denied asylum as well for no actual reason).He was also an former Immigration Attorney so he knew very well what and how to ask so I would not be able to respond adequately. His tactic was to open Google, do a research regarding my case and make the best questions from the information on the net, and for most of these questions I had no answers unless I had have a “PhD” on the subject. Anyhow, as I said, I was not surprised by the decision and I did not panic! What I did was to get myself a new, more experienced attorney and started the whole case from scratch. Here I want to say that a good lawyer makes a huge difference!!! Yes, a good attorney could be also expensive one, but the money is well spent at the end. You will have your EAD and you’ll be able to work and cover the expenses. There are some people out there complaining about lawyers fees and how they are not able to get the money but personally I do not believe it. I have been there and I have done it!! As long as you are not lazy and work, not having money is no excuse, period.

In short,just be patient, wait for 14 days, and hope for the best. If the decision is in your favor, turn the page and continue with your everyday’s life. On other hand if you did not get the Asylum granted, well, do not give up, it is not over, you will have few more chances to do better!

I am not sure if I got to the point of your question, but there is nothing that you or any of us can do at this time to help you. I know that you look just for a comfort in here until you get the decision, but it won’t help either.

I wish you best of luck
 
RB_ME said:
Well, I had my interview before an Asylum Officer back in 2005, lasted 3 hours and by the end of it I knew pretty much what the decision would be (I had the feeling that I did not make it). In my case I had to wait for the decision to come in the mail as I live away from the Immigration Office. When I got it I was not surprise at all to see that I was referred to Immigration Judge.

Now, the Asylum Officer I went before was a naturalized Polack, who with the power that has been given to him, felt that he has to reject everyone’s case (I heard so many other cases before same guy being denied asylum as well for no actual reason).He was also an former Immigration Attorney so he knew very well what and how to ask so I would not be able to respond adequately. His tactic was to open Google, do a research regarding my case and make the best questions from the information on the net, and for most of these questions I had no answers unless I had have a “PhD” on the subject. Anyhow, as I said, I was not surprised by the decision and I did not panic! What I did was to get myself a new, more experienced attorney and started the whole case from scratch. Here I want to say that a good lawyer makes a huge difference!!! Yes, a good attorney could be also expensive one, but the money is well spent at the end. You will have your EAD and you’ll be able to work and cover the expenses. There are some people out there complaining about lawyers fees and how they are not able to get the money but personally I do not believe it. I have been there and I have done it!! As long as you are not lazy and work, not having money is no excuse, period.

In short,just be patient, wait for 14 days, and hope for the best. If the decision is in your favor, turn the page and continue with your everyday’s life. On other hand if you did not get the Asylum granted, well, do not give up, it is not over, you will have few more chances to do better!

I am not sure if I got to the point of your question, but there is nothing that you or any of us can do at this time to help you. I know that you look just for a comfort in here until you get the decision, but it won’t help either.

I wish you best of luck
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Thanks very much for sharing. I am sorry you had to go through all the trouble. While reading the part of your post about the IO, who was an Immigration Attorney in the past, I had a thought: how the heck do you go from being an Attorney to IO? He must not have been a good attorney . . . LOL. I know for certain that IO salary starts from $40,000 annually. Information comes from a friend of mine who once was offered this position and refused the offer since he is an Immigration Attorney (thats right :) ) and obviously makes much more.
As to my case, I will wait another 12 days, pickup the results, show up for the court, and possibly, attempt to prove the old Lincoln's adage "A man representing himself has a fool for a client" false . . . LOL.


P.S. I totally agree with you on having the money part. Get off the couch and earn some. Or maybe, stop buying stuff you dont need and save some.
 
I am also waiting for the decision of the asylum interview. I found currently it seemed everyone needed to pick up the decisions by themselves. However, I remember their working manual mentioned that we could choose either by mail or in person. Well, maybe they don't trust USPS? LOL.
 
kwok007 said:
I am also waiting for the decision of the asylum interview. I found currently it seemed everyone needed to pick up the decisions by themselves. However, I remember their working manual mentioned that we could choose either by mail or in person. Well, maybe they don't trust USPS? LOL.
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I read somewhere in the old posts on this forum that the decision delivery method depends primarily on two things: if you are currently in legal status in the u.s., and if you had you interview in one of the eight main asylum offices and not a district office. Thus, if you are currently in legal status, you will get decision in mail regardless of where the interview is hosted. If at the moment of the interview you are in illegal status and go to one of the eight main offices, you will be invited to come back in person in 14 days. If you are illegal and have your interview in a district office, I believe they will still mail the decision.

I looked through most of the posts on this board and was not able to find much info on the actual interviews. For example, what questions are asked, temparament of the interviewer, results, etc. Thats why I started a thread like this; it could be of help to people in the future.

Best of luck to you.
 
Thanks. Wish you good luck too.
The info I've got from their working procedure is the same as what you mentioned above. However, I have legal status and I still need to be there in person in 2 wks.
I've also noticed, when I was checking in that day for the interview, the clerk already started preparing for the pickup letter, I mean she just started writing the pickup date and time. Maybe it became the current standard working procedure.
Let's see what happened.
 
It seems you have all the info you need. Just chill and wait. I interviewed on 7/31/2008. Its almost 3 months with no decision, guess its cause of my legality. The IO that interviewed me didnt know much about my case. I guess he didnt even read my application. At one point he asked me if my wife has ever been threatened with female genital mutilation .... this was way off my case. He told me that at least i will get a decision before 2011. He told me nothing about the 14 day collection period. IF I would be asked for a review, I would give him 0.3 out of 10.
 
YAHA12 said:
While reading the part of your post about the IO, who was an Immigration Attorney in the past, I had a thought: how the heck do you go from being an Attorney to IO? He must not have been a good attorney . . . LOL. I know for certain that IO salary starts from $40,000 annually. Information comes from a friend of mine who once was offered this position and refused the offer since he is an Immigration Attorney (thats right :) ) and obviously makes much more.
Click to expand...

I agree with you that as an Immigration Attorney you make way better money, regardless of proficiency, than if you are an Immigration Officer.
However, if you pursue a career as Government employee, working for DHS as an IO is an excellent start. ;)
 
aliwa said:
It seems you have all the info you need. Just chill and wait. I interviewed on 7/31/2008. Its almost 3 months with no decision, guess its cause of my legality. The IO that interviewed me didnt know much about my case. I guess he didnt even read my application. At one point he asked me if my wife has ever been threatened with female genital mutilation .... this was way off my case. He told me that at least i will get a decision before 2011. He told me nothing about the 14 day collection period. IF I would be asked for a review, I would give him 0.3 out of 10.
Click to expand...

Waiting in uncertainty is always a bad feeling :) . I guess that the only positive about being out of status in the United States is that you will get your asylum decision quick.LOL. If I had to rank my IO, I would give him 8 out of 10 in the beginning of the interview and probably 1 out of 10 at the end. I noticed that he knew absolutely everything about the case. I also saw a lot of his handwriting and markings on the pages of my statement. My biggest concern is that I could not documentally prove a few of the things I wrote on the statement; thus, the overall negative impression. To give you an example, I presented 3 medical documents from COP as a proof of persecution. I received them as a patient in hospital shortly after the actual persecution. Well, when he looked at them, he stated that they really dont have much weight since they are something that is given to a patient and not from the medical institution's archive. After this I was like -- :eek: . . . are you serious????? Then he asked if I had a C.V. (curricula vitae) of the doctors who wrote those examinations. Basically the whole interview came down to him downplaying the importance and weight of the evidence I possessed and trying to make a case that I miss a lot of evidence. I argued that I brought the most easily and safely obtainable evidence that would put me in the position to win the case. Ohh well, 11 more days to go until the results. I am already reading up on the Immigration Court manuals. LOL
 
It really depends on one's luck to be assigned a good or bad IO, who decides your fate. I know sb. who entered USA illegally via Mexican border. He had an IO who asked him many questions about how he got into USA. Finally the IO said she once worked at the border customs.
 
GodSaveAll said:
It really depends on one's luck to be assigned a good or bad IO, who decides your fate. I know sb. who entered USA illegally via Mexican border. He had an IO who asked him many questions about how he got into USA. Finally the IO said she once worked at the border customs.
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Hahaha, that's funny, but I can understand since this kind of interview is pretty discretionary, so that the IO would ask whatever he/she wants to know. That IO you mentioned must have been wondering how on earth that guy crossed the border. LOL. Me, too.:D
 
Don't Worry.

d
YAHA12 said:
Hello
Could someone tell me how the decision pickup process works for the political asylum. I had my interview yesterday and was given a paper that said I should come back in 14 days between 1 and 3 pm. Does that mean I could show up there anytime within that range? Will I have to wait a long time again or its pretty much instantaneous?

Also, was anyone heavily criticized by the IO during interview? I mean the guy literally busted my ***** about every piece of forensic evidence or lack of thereof. I defended my evidence (which I know to be true and 100% authentic) and case to the best of my ability, but overall I have a pretty mediocre feeling about my perspectives to receive an approval without going through the Immigration Court. My total interview lasted 45 min max. Out of those 45 minutes, around 25 min were spent to discuss my previous statuses in the United States. It seemed as the IO thoroughly researched my case and knew extremely well what to talk about. He only stopped on very particular things and details of the case.


Any input is appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
aliwa said:
It seems you have all the info you need. Just chill and wait. I interviewed on 7/31/2008. Its almost 3 months with no decision, guess its cause of my legality. The IO that interviewed me didnt know much about my case. I guess he didnt even read my application. At one point he asked me if my wife has ever been threatened with female genital mutilation .... this was way off my case. He told me that at least i will get a decision before 2011. He told me nothing about the 14 day collection period. IF I would be asked for a review, I would give him 0.3 out of 10.
Click to expand...

Aliwa,

Maybe the IO was trying to help you out by asking you that about the genital mutilation. Granted it does seem weird based upon what you have shared in the past regarding your reason for persecution. But my interviewing IO asked many leading questions that were not part of my application that I'm sure helped me very much for her justification for an approval.
 
Whether the decision is mailed to you or picked up by you in person ususally depends on one single variable. If you live within driving distance (as determined by the USCIS) then the decision is served in person. This way if you are denied then you cannot say later that you never get the denial letter. If you live too far away then you will get your letter in the mail.

The procedures are different if you are in legal status as you get a chance to rebut their proposed decision to deny before it becomes final.

Also if they cannot reach a decision within two weeks (because your file raises complicated issues) then they will also mail the decision--at some distant point in the future. :D
 
RB_ME said:
I agree with you that as an Immigration Attorney you make way better money, regardless of proficiency, than if you are an Immigration Officer.
However, if you pursue a career as Government employee, working for DHS as an IO is an excellent start. ;)
Click to expand...

I guess you guys do not really understand the position of an asylum officer. An asylum officer is NOT an immigration officer. This is a highly competitive job. Every opening attracts many highly qualified applicants. Here in New York City, the starting salary for an asylum officer is around $90,000. And yes many asylum officers are attorneys with a good understanding of international human rights laws. I personally count as friends more than a few asylum officers who are graduates of this country's best law schools. They have outstanding academic credentials. They could have lucrative jobs in elite law firms but chose to follow their dreams of helping the world's persecuted.
 
I went back to pick up my decision yesterday. After checking in, people had to wait for being called. Instead of the interview rooms, you need to go to the windows just in the waiting hall to pick up the decision. That day only 2 windows were open and I guess one guy was responsible for the "pass" people, the other for the ones who failed. If you passed the interview, you will be offered a new I-94 card stapled on an official document which shows your asylum final approval (if background check i.e. fingerprints, name or whatever is not finished yet, you will be issued a recommended approval) and you are told that you will be receiving your EAD 7-10 days later and you can get some benefits from the government right now. Your signature will be also required to establish that your decision is delivered to you in person. The other documents are application forms for RTD and for your spouse/children in COP. Hope this helps.
 
kwok007 said:
I went back to pick up my decision yesterday. After checking in, people had to wait for being called. Instead of the interview rooms, you need to go to the windows just in the waiting hall to pick up the decision. That day only 2 windows were open and I guess one guy was responsible for the "pass" people, the other for the ones who failed. If you passed the interview, you will be offered a new I-94 card stapled on an official document which shows your asylum final approval (if background check i.e. fingerprints, name or whatever is not finished yet, you will be issued a recommended approval) and you are told that you will be receiving your EAD 7-10 days later and you can get some benefits from the government right now. Your signature will be also required to establish that your decision is delivered to you in person. The other documents are application forms for RTD and for your spouse/children in COP. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Congratulations! thanks for sharing.
 
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