Asylum Offices around the country have become very busy. Oldest and newest cases, cases that were previously before the Immigration Court, and sometimes seemingly random cases are being scheduled for interviews. Often times, there is little advanced notice prior to the interview date. This means that applicants do not always have enough time to gather and submit their evidence, which is usually due at least a week before the interview.
Since it is not possible to know when you might be scheduled for an interview, or how much advanced notice you will have before the interview, the best approach is to gather your evidence now, so you are ready to go when the time comes.
What type of evidence is needed for an asylum case? It is helpful here to start with the law, which states that “the trier of fact may weigh the [applicant’s] credible testimony along with other evidence of record.” “Where the trier of fact determines that the applicant should provide evidence that corroborates otherwise credible testimony, such evidence must be provided unless the applicant does not have the evidence and cannot reasonably obtain the evidence.” See INA 208(b)(1)(B).
In other words, if you claim that something happened (you were attacked because of your political opinion, for example), you are required to provide evidence about what happened (such as a medical report, photos of your injuries or a letter from someone who witnessed the attack). If you are unable to provide such evidence, you should be prepared to explain why you could not get the evidence. It is better to have the evidence than to explain why you don’t have it, and so do your best to gather documentation for the important elements of your claim.
The evidence you need depends on what happened in your case. If you were arrested, harmed or threatened, get evidence such as police and court documents, medical records, photos of injuries/scars, and copies of any threats. If your case involves political activity, get party membership cards, receipts, letters from the party, and photos at political events. If it is a religious case, get evidence of your religion: Letters from church leaders and/or members, photos at religious events, certificates, membership documents, and government IDs, which sometimes list religion. If the case is based on nationality, ethnicity or race, get evidence that you belong to the group in question, such as identity documents or membership in ethnic organizations.
It is also helpful to have evidence about yourself and your background, including your passport and birth certificate, marriage certificate, birth certificates and passports for your spouse and children (family documents are necessary if you want to include your family members in your case or bring them to the U.S. later, if asylum is granted). Also, you can include education and employment documents, awards and certificates, membership in organizations and religious institutions.
If you served in the military, you should get evidence about your service, as you will be asked what you did, including whether you ever violated anyone’s human rights.
If you lived in a third country, you need to show that you did not have permanent status in that country. If the Asylum Officer believes you were able to live permanently in a third country, you could be blocked from asylum in the U.S. Evidence here might include temporary residency documents, visas or a letter from a lawyer in the third country indicating that your status was temporary.
If you were arrested in your country or anywhere, including the United States, you should get your arrest and court records. An arrest in the U.S. (or a criminal arrest overseas) can block an applicant from asylum, and so if this is a concern, talk to a lawyer about the immigration consequences of any criminal issues.
For people claiming asylum based on membership in a particular social group, such as sexual orientation or family membership, you would want some evidence that you are a member of that group.
If you have scars or other evidence of physical harm, including female genital mutilation, you can get a doctor’s report about the injuries. You can also include expert reports, such as psychological evaluations, forensic medical reports or reports from people (professors, journalists, diplomats) who have a specialized knowledge about the conditions in your country.
You should get letters from friends, family members, and others who know about your activities or problems. I wrote previously about what makes a good letter.
If any of your close family members applied for or received asylum, refugee or other humanitarian status (including SIV status) in the U.S. or abroad, try to get evidence of that status. It can be very helpful to show that other family members–who are often similarly situated–have been persecuted or have already received asylum.
You should include evidence of country conditions. These can be human rights reports, news articles, and the U.S. State Department report for your country.
Any document not in English must be properly translated with a certificate of translation. Otherwise, the Asylum Office will not consider it. Since obtaining translations can be time consuming, it is best to get this done as soon as possible.
Finally, it is important to review all the evidence to ensure that it is consistent with your statement and with the other evidence. Inconsistent evidence can lead to a determination that you are not credible, so be sure to review the evidence you submit.
If you have your evidence ready to go now, you will be much better positioned when you get called for an interview, and you will increase the likelihood of a positive outcome in your case.
I applied for asylum in 2017 and left America in 2019 before a decision was issued on asylum. Can I enter America now? If I apply for a tourist visa, will they allow me to enter again? Or because I left America before asylum was issued, so I am not allowed to enter again? Also, when I apply for the tourist visa should I tell them that I had a cancelled asylum or not? Because I want to apply for a tourist visa as my son is an American citizen and he want to visit his country. I want to take him to USA.
Please advise me
If you have not withdrawn your asylum case, you should do that. I wrote about how to do that on December 7, 2022. Otherwise, you can apply for a tourist visa, but it may be more difficult to get that type of visa. If the consulate thinks you will stay beyond the allowed time, they will deny the visa, and since you previously filed for asylum, they may think that you will violate the terms of a tourist visa. For some visas (such as H1b or L), this is not a consideration and you might have an easier time getting one of those, but if you want to apply for a tourist visa you can. You will just have to convince the consulate that you actually plan to leave the US at the end of your visit. Take care, Jason
I went to pick my decision today at Arlington office but I was told that my decision is not ready and it will be mailed in a week or so. Is that normal?
It happens sometimes. Unfortunately, there is no way to know how long it will take. Also, I think this is not an indicator one way or the other about the outcome. Take care, Jason
I got my t visa denied. I got denial letter . I also have pending asylum with uscis waiting for interview with work permit . Will this denial result in nta ? Under new guidelines nta is issued if not in legal status. I applied asylum when i overstayed.
I am not sure whether the denial of a T visa will result in referral to court. I suspect that it will not, but I have not done such a case and I am not sure. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason.
Asylum approved, applied recently for green card and it’s pending. Have an RTD.
How long can I spend outside the US without negatively affecting my status? I work remotely and was thinking to spend 4 months in Thailand as a digital nomad. My green card most likely won’t be approved till next year.
Thank you Sir for all what you do.
As long as you return before the RTD expires, you should be fine, though keep an eye out for any travel ban, just in case that happens. Also, remember that to qualify for the GC, you need to have one complete year inside the US at the time USCIS makes the decision on the I-485, and so if you will not have the full 365 days inside the US, you may need to stay in the US longer to meet that requirement. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason,
Thank you for your help.
My interview is scheduled for June 13, in Arlington office.
1. Can I go in person to request for reschedule ? Or
2. Is there any other address, email and fax to use?
Thank you
1 – They are supposedly resuming in person walk in hours this Thursday from 10:00 AM to 12:00 noon, and so you can go then. However, it is very unlikely that they will agree to reschedule. You can try, and if you have any evidence about why you need to reschedule, you should bring copies of that with you. 2 – You can also mail them a letter, but that has basically zero chance to work, and so I would go in person. If you want to send a letter, you can find the address if you follow the link under Resources called Asylum Office Locator. You will also see office hours on that same website. Take care, Jason
I went to Arlington office to pickup my decision and was told by a worker that my decision has been rescheduled to 3 weeks later and I must pick it up in person. Typically if your decision isn’t ready, you wait for it in the mail so that was new. Can this be a good sign?
I do not know if it is a good or a bad sign. Unfortunately, while the individual workers in Arlington are usually great, the office as a whole is a disaster and has little respect for asylum seekers or anyone else. Hopefully, the decision will be ready next time and it will be positive. Good luck, Jason
Hi Jason
My cousin and his wife , Ethiopians, have a pending asylum case. The wife is the principal and the case is a FGM. They have 3 kids who are US citizens. They are not part of the case but are mentioned in the case. They are asking if their 9 years old first born daughter can travel with relatives to Ethiopia and not visit their home city. Will it affect their case? The girl would be traveling with an American passport.
If the claim is related to FGM and they send the nine-year old daughter to Ethiopia without the parents, it seems to me that would raise a big question about what there is to fear about FGM or other gender-based persecution. Wouldn’t the girl be at risk of FGM if she goes to Ethiopia and the family wants to circumcise female relatives? Or if the mother already has FGM, the trip would show that there is no real risk of other gender related harm for female family members. Maybe there is a good explanation for this, but it seems to me sending a girl her age to Ethiopia when the mother has/fears FGM calls the asylum case into question. Also, if there is a danger of FGM for the girl and the parents send her to Ethiopia, that could be a good moral character issue for asylum (the fact that they put the child at risk of FGM means that they do not have good moral character, which can be a basis to deny asylum). Take care, Jason
Hi Jason, I hope everything is going well, I just need to hear your thoughts about recent discussions regarding green card holders and the possibility of revoking green cards,
https://www.newsweek.com/green-car-revoked-white-house-immigration-2072578
I do not have time to read the article now, sorry. However, if this is related to the State Department’s authority to revoke status for people whose presence here is allegedly harmful to the interests of the United States (as was used on the pro-Palestinian student at Columbia), I expect there will be a strong challenge in court. Of course, we cannot know for sure how that will go, but there is a reasonable chance that that law will be found un-Constitutional. I wrote about this issue on April 2, 2025. Take care, Jason
Just want to say that
I guess that is something. I could use some calming myself. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason, I’ve recently read about https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/30/house-republicans-propose-new-immigration-fees-trump/83364825007/ proposal that would charge certain immigrants $550 every six months to renew their work permits, what do you think about it? If it passes, can (will) it be challenged in court? What can we do to prevent this from passing?
I think the Trump Administration and its allies are making whatever changes they can to make life miserable for asylum seekers and other non-citizens, and this is part of that effort. I do think it is helpful to contact your Congress people to ask them to not vote for changes that are designed to harm vulnerable people, and such calls can help if enough people make the effort. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason, i got married abroad after recent asylum grant. Do I need to wait till I get my green card to file for my wife or I could do that now? Thank you
If you got married after asylum was granted, you cannot file for your wife until you get a GC . If you were married before asylum was granted, you can file for her now using form I-730. Take care, Jason
Hello Jason
My green card based on asylum has been pending for a while, now that there is a pause on those applications .If I file a mandamus lawsuit ,are they going to process it or processing will just resume after the pause regardless whether mandamus or not.
I am not sure and that would be a good question for the mandamus lawyer. I suspect that they would process the case if you filed a mandamus, but it is best to talk to a lawyer who has actually done such a case to see what happened. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason, Asylee here with GC. My son who is also GC did marriage in my home country and filed i130 for his wife in USA in August 2023 but still no reply. We check online status weekly and also check processing Time on uscis website. But it looks too longer. In your experience how much time is taking to grant a i130 case by USCIS for spouse living in Home Country?Kindly reply as a experience. Website looks very different. Thank you.
When a person with a GC files for a spouse, there is a waiting period (you can see that if you Google “DOS visa bulletin) and look under the appropriate category), and I think she is not yet eligible for a visa yet. However, if you look at the second family chart on that website, I believe she would be eligible to start processing the GC application (a person can start completing the process even before a visa is available – that is what the second chart shows). It seems to me that the case is moving very slowly. Check the processing times at http://www.uscis,gov and if it is outside the normal processing time, you can make an inquiry. You might also reach out to your Congress person for help – there are links under Resources for House of Representatives and Senate, and sometimes those offices can assist. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason,
Thank you for the update and information.
Do we know the latest update from the Arlington office which older cases they’re interviewing? I heard some who applied in July 2016 is called for interview. My case is October 2017. I want to get an idea when I could be called for interview.
Thank you as always.
We are mostly seeing interviews from 2015 and 2016. Some interviews seem to be more random, and so it is a good idea to get ready now, even if the interview may not be all that soon. Take care, Jason
Thank you Jason!!
Hi Jason!
I have a question.
I was approved for asylum. My wife was not in the case because we got married after the interview but before the decision. My wife has a separate asylum case that she filed separately before we got married. Then I filed an i-730 for her and she was approved.
Question: If she is now approved for i-730 and has status, can she go to the asylum office and close her asylum case? What do you recommend? Please give advice (plan).
Thanks
Sorry, forgot to say that we are both in the US. And her case is in the asylum office, not in court. The interview has not happened yet.
If she has been approved for the I-730, she should be able to withdraw her own asylum case. I wrote about that on December 7, 2022. Take care, Jason
I will read. Thanks
Hi Jason,
First of all, I want to thank you for your hard work and help.
My asylum case was approved, and I’ve filed for a green card and am currently waiting. Last year, we also filed an I-730 petition for my wife. She was interviewed at the Chicago office, and the I-730 was approved.
However, she still has her own asylum case, which was administratively closed by the Orlando Immigration Court back in 2015. We would now like to file a motion to dismiss that case so she can apply for a green card.
Do you think it’s better to file a motion to dismiss directly, or should we first transfer her case to Chicago and then file the motion?
Best regards,
John
Normally, you would just file the motion to dismiss or terminate in the court where the case is currently located. It seems a waste of time to move the case and then try to dismiss. Take care, Jason
Thank you Jason for all your generous and meticulous advice. After my bible, Jason’s blog is the next thing I take my time to read. Your blog gave me strength and hope to endure for ten years since I filed asylum. It has been years of anxiety, depression, anger, despondence, hopelessness and sometimes hope. You bring hope to people like me. I admire the time you spend to respond to each of your commenter. It takes passion and diligence to do what you do. I do not have silver or gold to give you, but from the bottom of my heart I say “thank you”.
I was granted asylum May 2025. I attended my interview April 2025 without an attorney. I was asked to return May 2025 for my decision. It was ruled in my favor.
I am here to encourage everyone who has been waiting. Hold on. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Do not give up.
I did not expedite my case. I filed in 2015.
Jason I am grateful to God for sending Moses like you to deliver us from our captors. I am grateful to a country like this that gave people like me a chance to be an improved version of myself.
I focused on my academic goals. Yes it was challenging. I have been paying out of pocket to complete my studies. And yes I paid as an international student. If I can do it, you can too.
Hang in there!
I am happy for you that you granted asylum!
If you allow me to ask questions,
is your asylum case based on religious prosecution or political view/race related?
Thank you for your response in advance
Religious
Thank you for the kind words and Congratulations on the approval (finally)! I wish you best of luck in the USA. Take care, Jason
Hi,
I hope you’re doing well! May I ask which office you had your interview with? Also, would you be open to exchanging some information so I can better prepare for my upcoming interview? I’d really appreciate any insight you can share. Thank you so much, and God bless!
Hi Therese,
I interviewed at Arlington Asylum Office VA.
Read your Asylum statement.
All questions came from my Asylum statement.
I filed in 2016. It has been a while. It is possible to forget due to trauma-induced stress. It can be hard to relieve the traumatic experience.
Hang in there! There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Hi Jason,I did apply for asylum and after 7yrs6months my asylum was scheduled for an interview.I had my interview done on April 30th,Before the interview I got married and requested to include my wife on my case as a derivative.After my interview,the officer asked me to pick decision in two weeks which due 14th of May but before the date my lawyer received an email asking me not to go get my decision that it will be emailed to me.Before we left the interview my lawyer was informed that my wife’s interview had been scheduled on the 20th of May since she also had separate filing of Asylum and Iam now a derivative on hers too.While we are waiting for the interview of my spouse,We received notices for finger prints(code 5) even though we already had fingerprints taken long time(code 3) I have three questions.
1.Is picking a decision in two weeks agood sign?
2.Do you think me adding my wife to my case triggered her interview because now they are not making a decision on mine until her interview happens(They called it simultaneous filing)
3.Should I be worried about the finger prints or is it the way it works.
Thank you so much.
1 – They seem to be doing that for everyone and it is common for decisions to be delayed, so I do not think it tells you anything positive or negative about the outcome. 2 – Maybe. In some cases, they have been asking one spouse to withdraw the case if both spouses have their own filings. Maybe they will ask her to do that, but if she has a strong case, I would try to go forward as she does have a right to have her own case adjudicated. 3 – They seem to send random fingerprint notices now and again, and so I would not worry about that. You should do the fingerprints, even though you already did them before, as failure to comply could have a negative effect on the case. Take care, Jason
Thank you so much.
Hello Jason,
Do you know if this anti-immigrant government is still processing form I-730? Since the suspended refugee programs , are they still allowing families to asylees to reunite?
As far as I know, they still are. We just recently received some notices for a few I-730 pending cases. Whether the cases will move more slowly than before, we shall see. Take care, Jason
Thank you for your response as always. Do you think you can help with extraditing the cases with embassies? If yes, how much would you charge? Were the notices you received approvals?
I personally do not do such cases, but my firm may be able to assist. If you call them and ask for a consult, they should be able to let you talk to a lawyer who can advise you: 703-952-3275. Take care, Jason
I was in a third country on student visa but i dont have any proofs of my status student visa in that country. They dont stamp passport with visa but gave me a paper of visa details which i have lost now. Its been 5 years now and my passport is expired too. I cant contact third country for former visa details without valid passport . Can i just write an affidavit and explain it and i did one semester study in that country along with academic transcript of study there. I was never offered permanent status in that country. Will i still be barred from asylum due to firm bar
You can write an affidavit and submit student records. There may also be info available online about student visas for the country or maybe you can get a letter from the school. The more evidence you have, the better, as these days, the government is sometimes being very harsh. In the past, though, the affidavit and transcript would probably have been enough, but I would try to get more if you can. Take care, Jason
Hello,
I am an asylee. I applied for GC and still pending. I applied for Refugee Travel Document and I didn’t pay the application fees ,just included receipt from green card. I want to apply a new Refugee travel document again, do I have to pay the RTD application fees or I can just include the GC receipt pending case only. I am not sure if fees are waived only once or waived as long as the GC still pending. Thanks
I think you have to pay the fee. It used to be that when you paid for the I-485, you got the RTD for free, but that is no longer the case. You can check the USCIS fee schedule for the I-131 form at http://www.uscis.gov. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason, I have a question. I have a pending asylum application for 9.5 years (I’m principal, and my husband is not on my case), and I also have a TPS status, and was re-paroled into the country a couple of years ago under TPS. Now I’m a derivative applicant on my husband’s EB2 AOS case, and we are scheduled for an interview in a few weeks. I am a bit nervous, but I think since I’m not the principal applicant on the AOS case, mostly the questions should be about his job.
I wonder, though, if everything goes well and the officer also approves my adjustment, would you recommend withdrawing my asylum case after approval and Green card issuance, or continuing to pursue it? Are there any potential issues if I withdraw asylum after (and if) I get approved?
Thank you,
Naya
If you get a GC, you can withdraw your asylum application and that is probably a good idea, given what a mess the asylum system is. If you have a GC, the only reason to keep the asylum going is if you have a dependent that you want to help get asylum or if you need the Refugee Travel Document. Otherwise, it probably makes sense to withdraw the case – I wrote about that on December 7, 2022.
Hi Jason,
Hope this finds you well! I recently received my refugee travel document, I’m an asylee. Is it high risk to travel to a 3rd country if I was born from a country that Trump travel ban is listening in the red section? if I travel and the ban comes up is there a risk that they will ban me although I have a refugee document? Thanks
As of now, there is no travel ban, and so as long as the RTD is valid, you can travel and return. If a travel ban does go into effect, we do not know who it will affect, but last time, after some initial confusion, the travel ban did not affect asylees with RTDs. I think if you travel, you will need to keep your eye on the news to see if a travel ban is issued, and you should be prepared to return to the US quickly if need be, though hopefully, none of that will be necessary. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason and everyone here
I recently applied for I-751 with a Money Order Payment pf $750. USCIS gave me a 4 year extension of my Green Card. However, they also sent Form I-797C titled Rejection Notice with details: Recently, you submitted an application for immigration benefits. That form was submitted with an extra remittance that is not required to process your application. Your payment is being returned to you with this notice. No additional action by you is required at this time.”
They returned the Money Order and on the money order they inscribed in pen the same date i made it.
Should i be worried about my case though they mentioned i don’t need to do anything?
Do I have to put the money back into my account and use it? though i do not even know how much they took and how much they sent me back or maybe all of it.
Has anyone ever had this notice before and what happened? was there any impact to your case?
Thank you
I am not sure why that happened. Generally, if you have the receipt, you should be ok. You can also check your case status at http://www.uscis.gov using the receipt number to see whether it is pending. Otherwise, the only thing I can think to do is to call USCIS (800-375-5283), try to get a person on the line, and ask about the status of your case. Also, if the money order was returned, you should be able to get your money back from the bank or post office that issued it. Take care, Jason
Dear Jason,
To be honest, I’m feeling very anxious right now because I’ve heard that there are checkpoints where authorities are checking people’s IDs. As someone with a pending asylum case, I’m concerned about how risky this situation could be for me.
I currently have my valid Real ID from DMV, proof of my pending asylum case, evidence of my application to renew my Employment Authorization Document (EAD), and my current work permit. Are these documents sufficient if I were to be stopped at a checkpoint?
I work for Bank of America, and I was also considering carrying my work ID with me since the company only hires individuals with proper legal documentation. Do you think that would be helpful to show if needed?
Additionally, I’ve heard that TPS (Temporary Protected Status) for Afghans might be coming to an end, with claims that conditions in the country have improved. This adds to my worry.
Given that my wife is a green card holder, my son is a U.S. citizen, and the rest of my family members are either permanent residents or citizens, how risky is my current situation? I’m really trying to understand what I can do to protect myself and my family.
You are in a very good position….you have family members who are residents…and you work for BOA…
I mean many asylum seekers couldn’t even find a job and they don’t have citizen families…
Honestly it makes me so sad of my own situation
I think you are probably fine. The documents you mention should be sufficient. I think the worst case for you would be if ICE tried to detain you and send your case to Immigration Court, where you could present a claim for asylum (or maybe other claims also). If your wife has a GC, she can file an I-130 petition for you, which may be a separate path for you to get status (depending on whether you entered the US lawfully and whether TPS continues, among other factors). Also, TPS is now scheduled to end. However, that potentially could be blocked by a court (this happened when the Administration tried to end TPS for Venezuelans). I think the best thing you can do at this point is to make sure you have all your evidence ready for the asylum case, so you can present the strongest case possible when the time comes, and also to look into whether your wife may be able to help you with an I-130 petition. Take care, Jason