Want to aplly for asylum, help

C

claumac

Registered Users (C)
I've been in the states for 8 years now, i entered legally nut now am past my expiration date, i left kosovo when i was 16, when the war started and went to Austria with a scholarship to a Jazz School of Music, after i finished i was afraid to go back to my country, since they bombed my house and took my family's apartmet so i came to the states. When i arrived i received very ill advice about not applying for assylum because i would not get it and would end up getting deported. SO now is been eight years now i have a girlfriend who i havent been able to marry because shes also here ilegal, (and i was thinkiing about marrying for th green card, but since i cant work i cant afford to pay somebody to marry me) and we have a 4 month old daugher. Shes dominican, not albanian. I have the papers showing that my house was bombed and that my apartment was taken by the serbians. I am a proffesional jazz guitar player and cant work and support my family. I dont have a criminal record and am not a terrorist. Last year Kosovo became an independent country and that has brought a lot of anger from the serbians who wanted kosovo to be "theirs". I have nothing back home cuz they took all we had and also my country doesnt see appropiate that i am with somebody from a different country and religion.
what advice would you give me?
 
This is delicate because you are admitting to breaking US law and express your desire to break it again by getting married for a green card. You may not get a lot of sympathy for this.

But regardless, I don't know that asylum is the way to go for you. You were supposed to apply for it within your first year in the US. There is an exception to that but you must demonstrate changerd circumstances in your country of origin that would justify you applying right now. You know more about Kosovo than I do, so I'll let you determine that.

Finally, be mindfull that you will not get asylum aproved for economical reasons. The simple fact of losing your house or not being able to suppot your family is sad, but irrelevant here. You have to demonstrate that you, or a group you belong to, have reasonable fear of persecution if you were to return to Kosovo.

I'm curious to see what others have to say.
 
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Of course i wont admit in my form that i was willing to marry somebody for a green card, believe me that is the last thing i wanted to do, because i have my girlfriend that i want to marry, and now my daughter.

I do have the fear of persecution because my family almost got killed and because my dad knew fluent serbian he passed as one, but they now are after the people who they know escaped by fleeing or disguising themselves as serbans. I am my parents only son and in my country is very common to go after the male of the family because he's the one that can provide. The daughter cant work so they dont pose such a avalue when it comes to a revenge. Serbians are really upset because Kosovo was granted independence and they are very skillfull in war and violence.

Also I'm afraid now that i have my daughter and wife that if i go back they can try to hurt them. Serbians committed a lot of violent acts to mothers and their sons or daughters.

I really would appreciate your help in this matter.
 
Look at what the State Department is saying about Kosovo and see if it coroborates your personal experience. If it does, that's good for you:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_4170.html

But once again, I do not question that at some point, your life was in danger. You just need to demonstrate changed circumstances in your country of origin. What happened 8 years ago is not the problem.

Quote: "You must submit an application for asylum within one (1) year of arriving in the United States, unless there are changed circumstances that materially affect your eligibility for asylum or extraordinary circumstances directly related to your failure to file within one (1) year. "
 
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i know, im meeting my lawyer on monday but i like to do my own research so that i can be ready, i know theres a way you can get the I-94 back, but i lost all my papers and dont know what to do, specially now that my country just got independent and they are issuing new passports and card id's .
 
You need to apply within the first year of your entry. Now it is too late. You need to prove that situation in your home country has worsened now, not when you left.
 
Yes, acr, thats why i want to apply now because a lot of retaliation has surfarced after kosovo was granted its independence, which was last year, i have to get my proof together of how serbs are still committing crimes against kosovars and the authorities are still not capable of doing nothing.
 
You should wait another 2 years and you will have the 10yrs stay in American without breaking the law. you will also claim you have a US citizen depending on you. Then you should try CANCELLATION FOR REMOVAL. my friends have been here for 12yrs, no criminal record, and have kids born here. they applied for this one and withing two years they got their greencards. Talk to your lawyer and do lots of research. As per asylum, i don't think it is the way to go right now, yu are too late. I aplied mine 14months after i came here and was immediately sent to IJ where i was delayed for 4years!!
 
mamatonny said:
You should wait another 2 years and you will have the 10yrs stay in American without breaking the law. you will also claim you have a US citizen depending on you. Then you should try CANCELLATION FOR REMOVAL. my friends have been here for 12yrs, no criminal record, and have kids born here. they applied for this one and withing two years they got their greencards. Talk to your lawyer and do lots of research. As per asylum, i don't think it is the way to go right now, yu are too late. I aplied mine 14months after i came here and was immediately sent to IJ where i was delayed for 4years!!
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Thank you so much for your reply, mamatonny, so even if I'm not here legally i can do what you say about the 10 years stay? I also have no criminal record but i did overstay my visa, thank you again for guiding me in the right direction, i really really appreciatte it!
 
Claumac,

I applied for asylum 4 years after entering the US and got it approved, so it can be done provided you establish what Acr and myself already told you above.
How did you enter the US? Did you get a Visa? Can you find any evidence of that? What proof of identity from Kosovo do you have? How about a birth certificate? Any evidence of your incoming trip to the US? Plane tickets? There has to be some type of remaining evidence. If not, it's time to consult a lawyer. Nobody will be able to help you here.
 
dave_bj said:
Claumac,

I applied for asylum 4 years after entering the US and got it approved, so it can be done provided you establish what Acr and myself already told you above.
How did you enter the US? Did you get a Visa? Can you find any evidence of that? What proof of identity from Kosovo do you have? How about a birth certificate? Any evidence of your incoming trip to the US? Plane tickets? There has to be some type of remaining evidence. If not, it's time to consult a lawyer. Nobody will be able to help you here.
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I entered with a tourist visa, legally, and i dont have physical proof of my entrance but i believe i found the form i can fill out to recover my I-94, and I'm going to ask my lawyer on tuesday how can i reissue my passport since Kosovo is an indepent state now.
 
I am sure your lawyer will tell you NOT to have a new passport issued. That is not the way to go. You do not ask for a passport from the COP when trying to file for asylum, but I could be wrong.
 
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Mamatonny i foubnd the for of Cancellation of Removal, and it says

"If you are described in this category, check (b) in part two of the attached form:

1.Entered the United States on or before December 1, 1990;

2. Filed an application for asylum on or before december 31, 1990; and

3 At the time of filling the application was a national of the Soviet Union, Russia, any Republic of the former soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia or any state of the former Yugoslavia.

You may apply with USCIS only if USCIS has not issued a final decision on your asylum application. To make an initial application before the immigration Court, you must be in deportation or removal proceedings. "

Does that apply to me? I dont think so, but in the beginning of the form it say that

"You may use this form only if :

1. You are a national of El Salvador or Guatemala; or

2. On december 21, 1990, you were a national of the Soviet Union, Russia, any Republic of the former Soviet Union (including Armenia, Azerbajan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakshtan, Kyrgyztan, Moldova, Tajkistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan), Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Albania, East Germnay, Yugoslavia, or any former state of Yugoslavia, (including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia)

So for that i do qualify, but the first part has me confused, since i've never applied for asylum.


In part II that is Eligibility to be granted relief it mentions what you say mamatonny:

"You may be eligible for NACARA 203 relief if you fall into category (a), (b), (c) or (d) of part 2 of the form and you have established seven years of continuos physical presence in the united states, good moral character for that time period, and that you or your spouse, parent, or child who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident will experience extreme hardship if you are returned to your country. "

Part II is the first quote i made, so im not sure if that applies for me. but the in the third paragraph says:

"Other requirements may apply, including ten years of physical presence and a showing of exceptional and extremely unusual hardship upon your return to your country, if you are deportable or removable from the United States based on certain provisions of the immigration law."

So is the ten years stay sufficient to apply for this form?


Again i have a meeting on tuesday with my lawyer but i really want to know all that i can do to be able to succeed in my application.
 
dave_bj said:
I am sure your lawyer will tell you NOT to have a new passport issued. That is not the way to go. You do not ask for a passport from the COP when trying to file for asylum, but I could be wrong.
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thanks for the response, dave_bj, (you guys are really helpfull!!!) i will ask my lawyer about the passport, i thought the same like you maybe it was not possible to get a passport, and i would just have to wait for one if everything goes good and i get approved. Ill write that down in my notes.
 
Yeah, the last one about 10yrs is the one am talking about. But one thing about cancellation of removal, yu have to give yourself up to immigration to be deported so yu can be in deportation proceedings and then turn around at the same time and apply for this waiver. your lawyer must be present..... when my friends did this i was so worried but it went thro. And pple advised yu above, why don't yu try asylum and if it fails, yu can apply for cancellation of removal? Talk to your lawyer.
 
dave_bj said:
Claumac,

I applied for asylum 4 years after entering the US and got it approved, so it can be done provided you establish what Acr and myself already told you above.
How did you enter the US? Did you get a Visa? Can you find any evidence of that? What proof of identity from Kosovo do you have? How about a birth certificate? Any evidence of your incoming trip to the US? Plane tickets? There has to be some type of remaining evidence. If not, it's time to consult a lawyer. Nobody will be able to help you here.
Click to expand...

could you please tell us how did you get your asylum approved 4 years after entering? I'm in the same situation now, and could use some useful info.
thanks
 
My case was special so this may not help you much. But here I go:

I entered the US in September 2000. I only applied for asylum in 2003/2004 after my other I-485 application was denied for a stupid technicality (I missed an age limit deadline) . I had no plans to apply for asylum (even though I had a strong case) because I thought I had a much faster way to become a PR . But it failed. To tell you the truth, there were no significant changed circumstances in my home country when I applied. HOWEVER:

1. My parents back home were constantly harrassed by my gorvenment for being active opposition members. My father was arrested in 2002 without ever knowing what he was being charged for.
2. Two of my brothers and my sister had already been granted asylum between 1996 and 2001.

I was referred to and immigration judge and she decided that it would have made no sense to deny me asylum when all my brothers and sisters were asylees in the US. So my case is a little special. I find that many IJ are very leniant. The one I had seemed to beg me to tell her something she could use to justify granting me asylum. The INS representative was really not interested in fighting my case either. He just sat there the whole time. I think he was shocked when he heard my story and the amount of evidence I had.

I will never be able to say for sure why she granted me asylumn though. This is just my interpretation of things.
 
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