In the United States, the asylum process can take anywhere from several months to several years, depending on the current backlog and the specific details of your case. If you are applying for asylum in the U.S., you’ll need advice from an experienced Boston asylum attorney.

Asylum status in the United States is for non-citizens who fear persecution in their home countries. Asylum is available to those physically present in the U.S. or arriving at a port of entry and satisfying the definition of a refugee under the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act).

Why Does the Asylum Process Take So Long?

The reason the asylum process takes so long is the immense backlog of cases that USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) and the immigration courts are handling. USCIS is currently processing more than one million pending asylum requests.

Additionally, the immigration courts face a backlog of removal cases, including asylum claims, numbering over a million, and these courts have already scheduled hearings for years in the future.

Security checks take time. Every applicant for asylum status is subject to extensive background and security checks by the FBI and other agencies. Those agencies also face enormous backlogs.

What Must You Demonstrate to Receive Asylum Status?

If you seek asylum, the INA requires you to demonstrate an inability or unwillingness to return to your country of origin due to persecution or a fear of persecution based on one of five specific, protected grounds:

  1. religion
  2. race
  3. nationality
  4. political opinion
  5. membership in a particular social group

The U.S. also recognizes gender-based persecution and grants asylum status based on genital mutilation, forced marriage, and domestic abuse ignored or condoned by the government of the applicant’s home nation.

What Advantages Does Asylum Status Provide?

More than 100,000 applicants were granted asylum in the United States in 2024. Those approved for asylum status may apply for work authorization. After one year, they become eligible to apply for a green card.

Not all who apply for asylum status will qualify. Asylum seekers should seek personalized advice and guidance from a Boston asylum lawyer who will ensure your paperwork is accurate and complete and that no mistakes on your part delay the process.

Which Documents Should Accompany Your Asylum Application?

To receive asylum status, you must provide evidence that you have suffered (or expect to suffer if you return) persecution in your home country due to your race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

Asylum status is not granted merely because a nation’s government is oppressive or because life in that nation is generally dangerous. You and your Boston asylum attorney must demonstrate that a direct, personal threat to you in your home nation is real.

Provide the immigration authorities with a written description of the harm you’ve suffered, who harmed you and why, and what you believe will occur if you return. Along with your passport and birth certificate, you may also need to present:

  1. medical reports about injuries you’ve suffered
  2. police reports about the victimization you’ve suffered
  3. an evaluation of any harm to your mental health
  4. magazine or news stories elaborating on the reasons you fear returning
  5. statements from those who know you and know what happened in your home country

How Do You Qualify for Asylum Status?

Beyond proving a “well-founded” persecution fear on a protected ground, an asylum applicant must satisfy several additional criteria. The most significant of these is the one-year filing deadline.

After you arrive in the United States, you must file Form I-589 (“Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal”) within one year. Unless you prove changed or extraordinary circumstances, failure to meet this deadline disqualifies you. Other eligibility criteria include:

  1. Persecutor status: Those who have incited, ordered, assisted with, or otherwise participated in the persecution of any person on account of the five protected grounds are ineligible for asylum status.
  2. Firm resettlement: Applicants “firmly resettled” in another country (offered permanent residence, citizenship, or other permanent protection by a third country before arriving in the U.S.) are ineligible for asylum status.
  3. Prior denial: You are typically prohibited from requesting asylum status if you have previously applied for and been denied asylum status by an immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals.
  4. The “Safe Third Country” rule: Under certain international agreements, the United States may remove you to a country other than your country of origin if that country offers a full and fair asylum procedure and you can be safely removed there.

Can You Work While Your Asylum Request is Pending?

When you request asylum, you are ineligible for work authorization. If no decision about your status has been made after 150 days, you may file an “Application for Employment Authorization” (USCIS Form I-765).

When you apply for work authorization, refugee or asylum status, a visa, a green card, or naturalized citizenship, speak first with a Boston immigration lawyer who will ensure that your application and the accompanying paperwork are complete, accurate, and on time.

That lawyer will address your immigration-related concerns and questions, explain your legal options, prepare you for interviews and hearings with USCIS, and protect your rights. If you need asylum status, speak first with a Boston asylum lawyer at Toland Law.

Call Toland Law to Learn More

If you need to apply for asylum status, consulting a Boston immigration attorney at Toland Law is your first step. Your circumstances are unique, so you need specific, personalized immigration advice. A Boston immigration attorney at Toland Law will strive to help you reach your goals.

Our managing attorney, Paul Toland, has practiced law in Massachusetts since 2012. He is joined by attorneys Juan C. Congote and Abrafi Osei-Kofi. We offer comprehensive immigration law and criminal defense services in Boston and across Massachusetts.

To seek asylum status or for any immigration-related legal matter you’re facing, schedule an initial consultation with the legal team at Toland Law by calling 857-347-3701.

Toland Law, LLC