You should normally only do that at the interview, or shortly before the interview is scheduled (unless you are filing a change of address form). But when the times comes, you would submit documents to the local asylum office – I submit by mail and by email, and I bring a hard copy to the interview as well, since they often lose whatever I submit prior to the interview. Take care, Jason

Kindly I have a question. If I want to update my asylum application, where should I send the update? to the asylum office where I initially submitted my I-589 application, or to the Office center mentioned in the I-589 receipt?
thank you.

I don’t know either, but it sounds like they want you to wait 45 more days before you inquire again. Hopefully, there is some meaning to that, and you will get a decision soon, but most of their statements like this are not meaningful. If you don’t have any news in 45 days, inquire again. Take care, Jason

Jason,

To give you an update – we filed an inquiry with the USCIS as to the status of our case August 14th, got a response on September 7th that has a very unclear statement – basically, they say the case is under review, cases “take UP TO 45 days” to review, and we should “refrain from sending repeat requests UNTIL THIS 45 day window has elapsed”. To backtrack, we filed in Feb 2015, had our interview March 27, 2018 and it’s been over 120 days since then. They’re saying not to submit any inquiries until the 45 day window elapses – should this mean we need to notify that it’s been 120 days? Or would that only get them ‘frustrated’ and we should just wait and wait? I will probably not want to file another inquiry but the 45 day statement really confuses me.

I would not submit an inquiry more than once every 3 or 4 months (or even less frequently), but if you have waited four months, I think it is certainly appropriate to inquire now. You can find their contact info if you follow the link at right called Asylum Office Locator (under Asylum Seeker Resources). Take care, Jason

Jason,

How much time do you think it’s appropriate to wait till it’s ok to send a reminder or inquiry to USCIS about the case? We had oyr interview March 27th, were told to come back in two weeks; got a phone call in three days saying no need to come to office and the decision will be mailed. It’s been over four months, the decision has still not arrived…should I submit an inquiry?

Many decisions are mailed; this seems to have no correlation with whether you will get a good or bad result. It may be that she just needs time to review the original documents, or maybe she is going on vacation and can’t finish the case in 2 weeks. I would just give her what she needs and hope for the best. Take care, Jason

Thank you for helping us navigate these issues, Jason. I’ll check out the other posts you mention.

A court case is different from an asylum office case, and that it different from a credible fear interview. In all of them, you have to prove eligibility for asylum, and so that is the same. I’ve written posts that are relevant to Immigration Court and Credible Fear Interviews – there is a link at left to both categories. Also, on September 22, 2016, I did a post with links to non-profits across the US, and they often have helpful website to advise on these topics, or in some cases, they can help directly. Take care, Jason