The U.S. immigration allows people who have well-founded fear of persecution to seek asylum or refugee status that will allow them to obtain permanent residency (green card). However, to qualify the applicant need to belong to one or more of the 5 categories of people who have well-founded fear of persecution because of his or her:
- race,
- nationality,
- religion,
- membership of a particular social group or because he or she is identified with a particular social group,
- political opinion that will subject him to persecution.
Also, the law requires that an applicant must apply within 1 year of arriving in the U.S. otherwise; applicant must show either extraordinary circumstances or changed circumstances in his or her home country.
Steps
You should apply for lawful permanent residency on Asylee Form I-485, application to Register Permanent Residence of Adjust Status. You must have been in the US under asylee status for at least one year.
Documents
In addition to Form I-485, the following documents and forms are also required:
- Fingerprint fee (if you are between the ages of 14 and 79)
- Form I-485 filing fee
- Form G-28 (if applicable), signed by both you and your attorney/representative
- 2 photos in an envelope stapled to lower left corner of Form I-485. Please write your name and A-number (if you know it) in light pencil on the back of each photo.
- Signed Form G-325, if you are age 14 or older.
- Form I-693 Medical with Vaccination Supplement. An USCIS authorized civil surgeon must conduct this medical examination and complete the form.
- Evidence of Asylee Status. This may include a copy of your Form I-94 and a legible copy of the letter granting you asylum.
- Form IRS-9003, optional.
- Form I-602, Application by Refugee for Waiver on Grounds of Excludability, if applicable.
- Evidence that you have been in the US for at least one year.
- Proof of any absences from the US since you have been granted asylum.
- A birth certificate or other birth record.
- Proof of any legal name changes made since you were granted asylum status.
Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA)
Under NACARA, certain individuals and their dependants are potentially eligible to apply for suspension/cancellation of removal based on the more generous suspension of deportation standards that were in place before 1997 and obtain a green card, provided that they have not been convicted of an aggravated felony. The standard is as follow:
Salvadoran nationals: (1) who first entered the United States on or before September 19, 1990, and registered for benefits under the ABC settlement agreement on or before October 31, 1991, unless apprehended at the time of entry after December 19, 1990, or (2) who filed an application for asylum with the INS on or before April 1, 1990.
Guatemalan nationals: (1) who first entered the United States on or before October 1, 1990, and registered for ABC benefits on or before December 31, 1991, unless apprehended at the time of entry after December 19, 1990, or (2) who filed an application for asylum with the INS on or before April 1, 1990
If the person is in one of the categories described above, he or she is eligible for the presumption of extreme hardship. All Salvadorans and Guatemalans who are eligible for NACARA as principals are presumed to have established the requisite extreme hardship requirement because the regulations specifically provide the presumption to both groups of NACARA principals from those countries.
The applicant must meet the following additional requirements in order to qualify for these benefits: (1) Maintain continuous presence in the United States for seven years, (2) Possess good moral character, (3) Demonstrate that returning to the country of origin would result in extreme hardship to the applicant or to the applicant’s child, spouse, or parent who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (LPR) and (4) Merit a favorable exercise of discretion.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
In 1990, the United States enacted a temporary protected status (TPS) provision, which permits the Attorney General (AG) to grant temporary safe haven in the United States to foreign nationals. The AG may designate TPS for nationals of any country that is experiencing (1) an ongoing armed conflict posing serious threat to personal safety; (2) an environmental disaster resulting in a substantial, but temporary, disruption of living conditions; or (3) extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevent nationals from returning in safety.
TPS is only granted to individuals already in the United States, usually to individuals present in the United States on the date the designation is made by the AG. It is generally not available to individuals who arrive after the date of initial designation. Exceptions to this general rule include the re-designations of Burundi, Liberia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, and Sudan, which allowed individuals arriving after the initial designation date to apply for TPS.
An individual may be granted TPS if he or she:
- Is a national of a country designated by the AG;
- Has been continuously physically present in the United States since the effective date of the most recent designation;
- Has been continuously residing in the United States since a date set by the AG;
- is admissible as an immigrant, except as provided for under 8 CFR §244.3;
- Has not been convicted of a felony or two or more misdemeanors in the United States and does not fall within one of the mandatory bars to withholding of removal;
- and Timely registers for TPS or, if in valid status during the registration period, registers within 60 days from the expiration of such status.
To date, the AG’s TPS designations have included nationals of the following countries or provinces: Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi, El Salvador, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Sudan.
Recipients of TPS may affirmatively apply for asylum while maintaining their TPS status. TPS recipients may also apply for asylum after their TPS status terminates. If, however, a TPS recipient has been in the United States for more than one year, he or she should file for asylum within a “reasonable period” after his or her TPS status expires or he or she may be barred by the one-year filing deadline. |
