Columbus Asylum Lawyers 

Compassionate Asylum Advocates Serving Fairfax, VA, Columbus, OH, Cleveland, OH, Southfield, MI, and Washington, DC 

People suffer from great prejudice of all forms every day worldwide. The United States recognizes the right to asylum, and The Law Firm of Shihab & Associates can help those in need who qualify for asylum. Immigrants can come to the United States seeking protection from persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, and/or political opinion. If you need help, reach out to our asylum attorneys today. We have office locations in Fairfax, Columbus, Cleveland, Southfield, and Washington, D.C..

Who Qualifies for Asylum?

If you belong to a minority group in one of the troubled areas, as a Shiite in Syria or a Sunni in Shiite Iraq, you may qualify for asylum. Many other minority groups may be entitled to asylum, such as Egyptian Copts, Israeli Arabs, Turkish Kurds, Palestinian Jordanians, Algerian Berbers, Saudi Shia Muslims, Assyrian Christians, Turkmens, and Yazidis — who are facing increasing hostility at the hands of extremist groups and even government bodies.

Another group of people who may be entitled to asylum are individuals who worked with overthrown regimes. However, you must be present in the United States to apply for asylum. If you belong to one of these groups or are being persecuted because of your race, religion, political opinion, national origin, or sexual orientation, our Columbus immigration lawyers have more than half a century of combined experience advancing the cause of immigrants worldwide. We are here to help you.

Call The Law Firm of Shihab & Associates today at (888) 915-5057 or contact us online to schedule a meeting with out asylum attorneys in Columbus!

Applying for Asylum in The United States 

If you recently moved into the United States and are eligible for asylum, you may be permitted to stay in the United States. To apply, you must file a Form I-589, Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal, within one year of your arrival to the United States. Applying for asylum does not require a fee.

Once entering the United States under asylum, you must wait 150 days after you filed your complete asylum application to apply for employment authorization in the U.S., and only if no decision has been made regarding your application. Once granted asylum, you can work without an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), but you may deem it necessary to acquire an EAD for identification or convenience. To obtain an EAD, you must fill out an I-765 application.

Also, once granted asylum, you can bring your immediate family members (spouse and unmarried children under 21) to the United States by filling out an I-730 petition. The form must be filled out within two years of the petitioner being granted asylum. Like the I-589, this form does not require a fee.

Types of Asylum Claims

Unlike some other immigration policies, an alien may apply for asylum regardless of his or her status, meaning even if an alien enters the country illegally, asylum can still be applied for. There are two ways to obtain the protections afforded by asylum: affirmative or defensive.

Affirmative Asylum Processing

Affirmative asylum processing means that the alien takes proper steps to request asylum even though the U.S. has not initiated any action against him or her. One of the reasons that affirmative processing of asylum cases can be so helpful is that it allows the alien to proceed at his or her own speed. An alien can meet with an immigration attorney, consider the facts of the case at hand, review evidence or the possibility of obtaining evidence, and decide that asylum should be requested, all while remaining able to explore and consider other possibilities.

With affirmative action, an alien will get two chances for the case to be presented, as opposed to only one chance offered in a defensive action. This is because even if the USCIS denies the asylum application, the case is referred to an immigration judge to hear the case from the beginning, and the judge is not required to come to the same conclusion as the USCIS. If the alien were thrown into a deportation hearing in front of a judge, the initial step of having the USCIS consider the facts is no longer available. Obviously, anything that increases the chances of a favorable outcome for the alien is recommended.

Affirmative processing can also be less stressful. The application is submitted on the alien’s timeline instead of a court-imposed deadline. The affirmative asylum request involves an interview with an immigration officer, which is not adversarial like in a courtroom hearing. No one at the interview is trying to prove that the asylum application should be denied. Instead, the immigration officer asks questions and considers evidence to determine whether or not an asylum application should be granted. An alien may have an attorney present to assist with this process, and it is recommended that an alien consults with an attorney before going through this process. If the immigration officer denies the asylum application, the alien will then go before an immigration judge to present the facts of the case again, but this time it will be in a defensive asylum proceeding.