In a published decision, the BIA has reversed an Immigration Judge’s ruling that an application for asylum filed within one year of “changed circumstances” was timely.  The IJ granted asylum to a couple from China who feared persecution based on the Chinese government’s coercive family planning policy.  The couple filed for asylum within one year of the birth of their second child.  The IJ found that the couple’s asylum application was filed within a reasonable period of the changed circumstances and granted relief.  In Matter of T-M-H- & S-W-C-, 25 I&N Dec. 193, Interim Decision # 3673 (BIA 2010), the Board reversed, holding:

[W]e disagree with the Immigration Judge’s legal determination that the respondents satisfy an exception to the 1-year asylum filing deadline simply because their applications were filed within 1 year of “changed circumstances” that materially affect their eligibility for relief.

The Board noted that asylum applications must be filed within a “reasonable period” of the changed circumstances.  Normally, such reasonable period cannot exceed six months.  The BIA remanded with instructions for the IJ to determine whether the “respondents’ situation warrants an exception to the 1-year asylum application filing deadline.” 

If passed into law, the Refugee Protection Act would eliminate the one-year filing deadline and might modify the “reasonable period” examined here.