Any foreign national who has a “well-founded fear of persecution” on account of one of five grounds: 1) race, 2) religion, 3) nationality, 4) political opinion, or 5) membership in a particular social group and is therefore unable or unwilling to return to his or her country of nationality is eligible to file for asylum.
If your asylum claim is granted, you will have the right to live and work in the US. You can apply for a Social Security card, access certain public benefits, and bring immediate family members to join you. After a year, you can obtain lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, also known as a green card.
Two Types of Asylum Processes
1. Affirmative asylum: This is when you apply while already in the U.S., not facing deportation.
2. Defensive asylum: This occurs when you’re in removal proceedings and are requesting asylum as a defense against deportation.
Eligibility
Asylum must be applied for within one year after arrival in the U.S., unless you can establish “changed circumstances” or “extraordinary circumstances” directly related to the delay in filing the asylum application.
Must present objective and subjective evidence of well-founded fear of persecution.
Asylum applicants who have been convicted of a particularly serious crime (“including an aggravated felony or an offense designated by the Attorney General as ‘particularly serious”) are ineligible for asylum.
Also ineligible for asylum are those who have been involved in terrorist activities, constitute a danger to national security, or have engaged in persecution of any person on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.