Political Asylum & Citizenship

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Laura Pepper

New Member
I have a friend who has been in the USA for 10 years under asylum. What process can he follow to ensure citizenship? Is there a time limit? A lawyer told him that, since there are so many cases, his chances do not look good. Is a second opinion recommended, or are there other possibilities?
Any help would be appreciated
 
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To get citizenship he first has to get his green card. He has to file a I-485 at NSC application to adjust to permanent resident status. An asylee can apply for resident status only a year after he was granted asylum. Once he gets the residency, he has to live five years in the US before applying for citizenship. He doesn\'t need a lawyer for this, and can do everything by himself. Just check www.ins.usdoj.com
 
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Thanks for the info. However, he insists since there is an ongoing case involving his status, he can\'t readily start the process. Is it possible he will be blocked, or not allowed to file forms for any reason. If he submits the application, could he face a penalty for not following a certain protocol, or is he misinformed on how the process occurs? Would there be any legitimate reason or circumstance that would make it unwise for him to try this - such as the status of his "case"?
I\'m obviously still cloudy on this subject.
Any help, or clarification would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

Laura Pepper
 
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When you say he has been in the USA for ten years under asylum, I understand he was granted asylum ten years ago; consequently, after being interviewed by INS he must have received an approval letter from INS granting him asylum. This is the document he has to use to file a I-485 form to adjust to permanent resident status, which in turn is the first step in the long way to get citizenship. If this is the case (he got an asylum status granted)I do not understand what the lawyer is objecting, and I insist he doesn\'t need an attorney for this process. I did everything by myself and work just fine. Good luck
 
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Thanks, but I misunderstood him. He has yet to see a judge, approving asylum. Instead, he\'s gotten a yearly work authorization card. Is this a normal waiting period for asylum? Is there anything he can do to facilitate this process? Is the fact he\'s had work authorization since about 1990 a means for him to try to begin the citizenship process before getting his asylum judgement?
Thanks,
Laura
 
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This is a completely different story then. If he has to see a judge, that means that he is in a kind of appealing process. There is no way he can go through the citizenship process because he has had work authorization before getting his asylum granted.
First of all he has to get his asylum approved. A year after he got it approved, he has to file I-485 to adjust to resident status (this process could take 3 years. After getting the resident status, he has to live in the US for 5 years to be entitled to apply for citizenship.
As said before to get his asylum case approved is the first step. In the event he has problems to get it approved, he can argue that, after so many years in the US he can\'t go back to his home country and maybe the judge can help him. It seems now that what his attorney was saying is about right. And he needs a good immigration attorney to handle this case. Good luck
 
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I got mine granted on 8/97 and applied for I-485 on 9/98. I am still waiting for approval. They are processing I-485 filed in 6/98. There is a quota of only 10000 visas per year for asylees, so it is a long way to go to finally get the GC. It will take much more than the 505 days INS says.
1) Next step is: to be called by INS for fingerprints. After that, if everything is OK they will stamp passport, and mail GC.
2) Most likely, no other interview is required.
3) Doesn\'t help. There is a line of people in the same boat waiting for a while to be in the 10000 quota every year. Applications are processed based on the filing date.
4) RTD is fine, but better check ins.usdoj.gov before traveling because there is a recent rule issued by INS saying that now Advance Parole is also needed, in addition to RTD

If you know of anybody in the same boat, please let me know. Also if you receive any new from INS. I will do the same. Thanks
apalanpero@cs.com
 
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1) Waiting for fingerprint notice from INS
2) medical test already done when filing I-485. After FP, you are called to go to local INS for stamping. Some time after, you receive GC by mail
3) I got my I-94 with letter from INS granting asylum. It\'s really important, specially if you need to leave the US temporarily
Don\'t trust times given by the answering machine. They mean nothing, approval of applications move according to the 10000 yearly quota. It\'s better to insist calling and talk to a Immigration officer to have a better idea of status of application. You will need to be redialing at least 40 minutes to get your call through. Good luck to you also
 
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Hi
Very informative notes that I found on this message board. I have question: Have been granted asylum and applied for status ad. in Sep. 99 I want to visit Canada. Is is possible to go there with Travel Document? If yes, what they see at the boarder when we enter to the USA? Should we take our I-90 with us? If they keep that with them, then what happens?

Also, whats the best way to go to India for a visit on an asylum status without getting AC?

Please help
 
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Hi, everyone, I have a dumb question. If I get my green card through asyleum, can I go back to my country with my current passport and return to USA with my green card ?

Thanks a lot!
 
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Hi Alanpero
I have some question about I 485
My Political Asylem has been granted and I appilyed for I 485 on Jan-2001 and I got recipe notice from SC on Jan 2001 also. and on that recipe notice they say it will take 475 to 505 days for prossing.But recently i call NSC and give my LIN no: and they(Automated system) say it will take 460-490 days.
My question is :1) 460-490 days take to do I 485 EB(employment based)
                2) 960-990 days take to do I 485 Asylee(granted political Asylem)
                3)But on my recipet notice they say it will take 475-505 that time is for ( EB I 485) but i applied my I 485 as a Asylee
so shouldn\'t i get letter 960-990 days for prossing time.
Does same thing happen to you also?
               4)10,000 GC for political asylee do they have diffrent couta for different country-
Thanks for your help/information.
 
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1),2), 3) 960-990 days is the most recently processing time reported by NSC. So, you won\'t get any new from INS before that period. Yes, it\'s my case also
4) 10000 GC is the yearly quota for asylees from all countries over the world. No distinction for any specific country.
 
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Yes you can with RTD, but better check ins.usdoj.gov There is a recent advisory notice from INS for I-485 travelers and now they are also asking for Advance Parole. IO checks for the RTD (and now apparently the AP also)He also issues a new I-94, and keeps the old one. I believe you meant I-94, not I-90. Don\'t understand question about going to India (AC ??)
 
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A Guatemalan man enters illegally and applies for Political Asylum through the "ABC Project" for which he gets 3 consecutive years of work permits. He finds Mrs. right and marries. He then applies for permanent residency through his American wife, never mentioning the political asylum he had been under. Is it legal? Especially take note that his native country is now at peace politically.
 
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Disclaimer:I am not a lawyer and you shouldn\'t take my advise seriously.

I think it is legal. I also believe marriage based GC application will be faster than asylum based GC because there is 10,000 GC/per year limit on asylum based GC applications.
 Whether you mention it or not the INS will automatially know that you are an asylee because your name and personal data is in their database. However that should not have any negative effect on your marriage based GC application.

 Good luck! And please consult with a proper immigration lawyer or ask an immigration officer to confirm this.
 
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I applied my asylum based I-485 at Houston INS office in Sepetember 1996. All I got was a post office return receipt from them. However if you write to them and ask about the status of your application they will reply with acknowledgement that they received your application.
  It took me 4years and 5 months to get the finger print notice letter. And the interview notice letter two weeks later.
  Don\'t get your hopes too high at the interview because the asylum green card quota system only gives out 10,000 green cards per year. And as some gentlemen in this board already mentioned the quota is not country specific. There seem to be a large number of aylees waiting ahead of me because the INS interview officer was not able to tell me the exact number, definite waiting period etc. A friend suggested to me that that information can be obtained from NCSC if I request it under Freedom of Information Act.
  What really SUCKs(pardon my french) about asylee GC is that there are no big high tech companies or interest groups lobbying to increase the 10,000/per year quota. That number has not increased since 1990.
 
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Thank you so much for the information, valuable for the ones still waiting and congratulations. Another thing to consider is that before July 98, these type of applications were filed at local INS (like your case). But after that date, all applications were centralized in NSC and must be filed there (not in local INS offices anymore). Since NSC doesn\'t have records of applicants in each local office, at the begining of each fiscal year, they ask local offices to notify NSC of approvable cases. And, using that information collected from local INS offices, they allocate the 10,000 visas. So, if by any chance, the local INS office didn\'t report timely, of any case that had an "approvable" status, that case was delayed and had to wait until next fiscal year.
One last question: could you provide details on the interview, how is it conducted, questions, did they stamp passport there?, etc. Thanks again
 
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