Hi All,
I have been waiting for my interview at Chicago asylum office for over 125 days. I know this is a long time to wait for an interview, but I acknowledge that some forum member have been waiting for longer time than I. I am a paralegal at the moment so I help an attorney file many asylum cases, I do this as a way of passing time since I cant work. We have filled recent cases that have received their appointment for interview in less than one month since their applications. In-fact all recent cases filed after mid July have all received their interview appointment letters. So, we did some digging and this is what we found...
There are only eight asylum offices across the United States:
1. New York, NY
2. Newark, NJ
3. Arlington, VA
4. Miami, FL
5. Houston, TX
6. Chicago, IL
7. San Francisco, CA
8. Anaheim, CA (known as the “Los Angeles Asylum Office”)
Each office covers a certain area of the United States. For example, the Los Angeles Asylum Office covers Southern California, Southern Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, and Guam. Applicants living in areas like Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and Las Vegas travel to the Los Angeles Asylum Office for their interviews. On the other hand, asylum officers will travel every so often and interview applicants living in Arizona, Hawaii, or Guam. These applicant will have to wait longer for their interview appointment due to the traveling schedule for the asylum officers.
Except under extraordinary circumstances, applicants who live close to an asylum office typically interview within 45 days from the time U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) receives their applications. However, recently most asylum offices have experienced delays. Offices may be short-staffed and have received more applications than it can handle. From a political view, one can only speculate that its due to the different political unrest in various countries around the world. (this is pure speculation and does not reflect the real reason for increase in the number of people seeking asylum in USA)
The asylum office schedules interviews based on a “last in, first out” system. This means that newer cases receive higher priority than older cases. Higher priority is given to cases less than 21 days old. Next are cases that are between 22 and 100 days old. After this are cases that are over 100 days old (see USCIS Affirmative Asylum Procedures Manual, “Scheduling Priorities”). Therefore, if an asylum office receives more applications than it can schedule in a given time period, then those applications will get scheduled later. At the same time, the longer an application is pending, the lower its priority for scheduling.
I hope this will help explain the situation that most of us are in. May we all have patients and peace of mind that we will all get our day soon.
Waz!
I have been waiting for my interview at Chicago asylum office for over 125 days. I know this is a long time to wait for an interview, but I acknowledge that some forum member have been waiting for longer time than I. I am a paralegal at the moment so I help an attorney file many asylum cases, I do this as a way of passing time since I cant work. We have filled recent cases that have received their appointment for interview in less than one month since their applications. In-fact all recent cases filed after mid July have all received their interview appointment letters. So, we did some digging and this is what we found...
There are only eight asylum offices across the United States:
1. New York, NY
2. Newark, NJ
3. Arlington, VA
4. Miami, FL
5. Houston, TX
6. Chicago, IL
7. San Francisco, CA
8. Anaheim, CA (known as the “Los Angeles Asylum Office”)
Each office covers a certain area of the United States. For example, the Los Angeles Asylum Office covers Southern California, Southern Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, and Guam. Applicants living in areas like Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and Las Vegas travel to the Los Angeles Asylum Office for their interviews. On the other hand, asylum officers will travel every so often and interview applicants living in Arizona, Hawaii, or Guam. These applicant will have to wait longer for their interview appointment due to the traveling schedule for the asylum officers.
Except under extraordinary circumstances, applicants who live close to an asylum office typically interview within 45 days from the time U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) receives their applications. However, recently most asylum offices have experienced delays. Offices may be short-staffed and have received more applications than it can handle. From a political view, one can only speculate that its due to the different political unrest in various countries around the world. (this is pure speculation and does not reflect the real reason for increase in the number of people seeking asylum in USA)
The asylum office schedules interviews based on a “last in, first out” system. This means that newer cases receive higher priority than older cases. Higher priority is given to cases less than 21 days old. Next are cases that are between 22 and 100 days old. After this are cases that are over 100 days old (see USCIS Affirmative Asylum Procedures Manual, “Scheduling Priorities”). Therefore, if an asylum office receives more applications than it can schedule in a given time period, then those applications will get scheduled later. At the same time, the longer an application is pending, the lower its priority for scheduling.
I hope this will help explain the situation that most of us are in. May we all have patients and peace of mind that we will all get our day soon.
Waz!