Asylum

Houston Asylum Immigration Attorney

Asylum is often used as a remedy for someone who is either already in the United States or at the border. If the United States government decides that your life or freedom would be threatened in your country because of your race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, the government may allow you to remain here.

Our Houston immigration asylum attorney can determine your eligibility for asylum. To be eligible for asylum you must have a fear of persecution or have suffered persecution in your country in the past. You must be unwilling or unable to return to your country because of this fear. The way you apply for asylum depends on whether you are filing affirmatively (without being in removal proceedings) or defensively (currently in removal proceedings). Regardless of which process you are in, you will need to file Form I-589, Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal. You only have one-year to file this application from the day you entered the United States.

If you or a loved one were arrested or detained attempting to cross into the United States or were arrested and now in an immigration detention center, you will have to undergo a Credible Fear Interview with an asylum officer before you will be eligible to receive an immigration bond or apply for asylum. Preparation for this interview is extremely important – if you fail the interview, you will likely be deported unless you successfully appeal the asylum officer’s decision in front of an immigration judge. Often times a detainee is not able to present a credible fear to the asylum officer because they have not been adequately prepared by a competent and experienced immigration attorney. Our Houston immigration asylum attorney has the experience required to assist you through this process.

There is a deadline of when an individual can apply for asylum and this is typically within one year of arriving in the United States. In limited cases, there are exceptions to the one year filing deadline. We highly recommend speaking to our law office about these exceptions if you or someone you know are interested in applying for asylum and more than one year has passed from when the individual entered the United States.

In order to apply for asylum, the applicant must not be a danger to the United States, have been convicted of certain crimes, have been a member of or helped a terrorist group, have lived in another safe country for a significant period of time before arriving in the United States (there are exceptions to this), have committed a serious non-political crime outside of the United States, and have not helped, ordered, or participated in the persecution of another person.

Applications for asylum are complicated and need to be filled out correctly. An applicant for asylum may include the spouse and children in the application, and they receive asylum at the same time. If the family members were not included in the application, there is a procedure for bringing them in from outside the United States (or applying for family members in the United States), so that they also may become asylees.

Individuals who win their asylum case are eligible to become a lawful permanent resident after one year. However, the individual must be careful to not commit any crimes while this one year accrues.

Our asylum immigration lawyer in Houston is ready to help you. We will sit down with you to gather the details of your case, determine the likelihood of being successful, and represent you as best as we can. Your voice deserves to be heard. Please contact our Houston immigration law office at (713) 999-9115 to setup your consultation.