File Before or After I-94 expires

[ColAsy]

Hello!! I am new to the forum, and I have been told that this is the place to ask and receive honest questions.
I am from Colombia and my entire family is here on asylum basis. I am thinking about applying, but I have found conflicting information as to the moment to apply. My I-94 will expire in May, and some people is asking me to apply immediately, others tell me to wait. First, is there any difference, and second, what is the most convenient thing to do. I really appreciate your input.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

 

[MWDW]

From what I learn, the time to file depend on where you located.
If you have asylum office interview near your residence, usually it took 1 month from filing the application to your actual interview at their office.
If you are far from nearest asylum office, you need to wait for months (some wait for more than 6months) before the officer came to your area for doing out of office (field) interview.
meaning
if you live far from asylum office, it might be ok to file now because you will have to wait for a long time (most likely).
but
if you live near asylum office, it is better to file 1 month before your I-94 expired.
Which mean you should file this April.
Why?
Because if you file right now (this February), and you get your interview on March, and you get rejected by asylum office on
late March or early April, you will still be IN STATUS since your I-94 had not expired.
This mean you will NOT have AUTOMATIC chance to be referred to Immigration Court and fight your case there.
some people say you can ask the asylum officer to refer your case to immigration court even if you are still in status,
but this is NOT AUTOMATIC and it depend on the asylum officer discretion.

On the other hand,
if you file in April,
most likely you will get your interview in May,
and if you got rejected in late May or early June, you are already OUT OF STATUS at that time
and automatically referred to Immigration court.
This mean you had a SECOND CHANCE to fight your case at immigration court!
I know this is STRANGE but that is how the current law is.

Please note that All the above scenario were based on asylum office issuing their decision 2 weeks after interview
which is the common practice, although it is not always the case.

Let's face it, even if you have a solid asylum case, the decision to be granted or rejected is solely rely on the personal opinion
of the asylum officer. even if you have a solid asylum case you want to have a "second chance" if you fail the first time.
you got to be prepared for the worst case scenario!

My questions are:
Where are you located? and
Where is your nearest asylum office?
Are you coming to US with Tourist/Visitor B1-B2 Visa?

 

[rainforest jade]

But what are the chances to win tthe case when referred to Immigration Judge? Isn't it similar to get into a wolf den and possibly face deportation? How much can you fight/appeal for the case then? Could a person work while the process is pending with the IJ even without an EAD? And if you work w/o EAD, would it be counter productive for the case or IJ would see the unauthorized work with benevolent eyes? Sorry for so many questions!