Year in and year out, people immigrate to the United States of America because they seek protection from persecution or fear of persecution that they suffered in their own country based on the following factors:

1.    Race
2.    Religion
3.    Nationality
4.    Membership in a particular social group
5.    Political opinion

The difference between the legal terms of asylee and refugee is very technical.  Asylee is granted asylum status within the U.S.  Refugee receives his status overseas.  Both refugee and asylee have a right to apply to adjust status for lawful permanent resident in one year after the status was granted in the asylee case or in one year after arrival in the refugee case.  However, asylee’s green card will have the date of the lawful permanent resident status from the day the adjustment of status is granted.  In case of the refugee, lawful permanent residence will start from the day of arrival, so refugee will get a roll back for the start of residence in the U.S. it is explained by the fact that the refigee’s visa number is obtained overseas at the time of granting the refugee status.  In case of asylee, his visa number is received only at the time of the adjustment of status.

The people that are eligible for asylum based on persecution or fear of persecution in their own countries may be legally allowed to stay in the United States to seek protection.  To apply for Asylum due to persecution based on the above factors, a person needs to file an “Application of Asylum and for Withholding of Removal.”  This Application must be filed within one year of the person’s arrival to the United States.  In order to help the people from other countries to make the process of escaping persecution faster and easier, there is no fee to apply for Asylum.

A person avoiding persecution may include his/her spouse and children who are also in the United States on their application at the time they originally file or at any time until a final decision is made on their asylum case.  In order to be included on the application, the child must be under 21 years of age and unmarried.

A person cannot apply for permission to work (employment authorization) in the United States at the same time when applying for asylum.  A person may apply for employment authorization if the following two factors are present:

1.    150 days have passed since the person filed their complete asylum application.  This 150 day period excluded any delays caused by the applicant (such as a request to reschedule your interview), and
2.    No decision has yet been made on the person’s application due to government’s delay in processing the application.

If a person is granted asylum, he/she may start working immediately.  Some Asylees can obtain Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) just for their convenience or identification purposes, but an EAD is not necessary for an asylee to work in the United States.

At the point when a person is granted asylum, he/she can petition to bring their spouse and children to the United States by filing a Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition.  In order to be able to include any children on the application, the children must be unmarried and under the age of 21 at the time of filing for asylum.
An Asylee must file the Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition within two years of being granted asylum unless there are humanitarian reasons to excuse this deadline.  In order to help the people from other countries to make the process of escaping persecution faster and easier, there is no fee to apply for Asylum.

An Asylee may apply for a Green Card one year after being granted asylum.  To apply for a Green Card, the asylee needs to file an Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status.  The Asylee must submit a separate application packet for themselves, and if applicable, for each family member who received derivative asylum based on the original Asylee’s case.

Mayzel Law Group assists aliens seeking asylum in the U.S. both affirmatively and defensively, heavy litigates asylum claims in the Immigration Court of the Executive Office for Immigration Review as well as before the Board of Immigration Review and Courts of Appeal in different jurisdictions.