This article is by Aldis Petriceks of Harvard Medical School, Erin Shortell of Harvard Law School, and Dr. Francis X. Shen, JD, PhD. Executive Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior; Instructor in Psychology, Harvard Medical School; Senior Fellow in Law and Applied Neuroscience, Harvard Law School Petrie-Flom Center.
The success of an asylum claim relies, to a large degree, on the perceived credibility of an asylum seeker’s memory. The Real ID Act of 2005 states that “[t]he testimony of the applicant may be sufficient to sustain the applicant’s burden without corroboration, but only if the applicant satisfies the trier of fact that the applicant’s testimony is credible, is persuasive, and refers to specific facts sufficient to demonstrate that the applicant is a refugee” (emphasis added). Asylum officers and immigration judges are told, in a sense, to act as mind readers, subjectively deciding whether or not to believe the narratives of asylum seekers.
But how do judges and asylum officers assess credibility? Additional evidence, such as physical signs of abuse or country-level evidence of systematic torture, can bolster credibility in this context. But such evidence may not be available, and even if it is, credibility assessments still turn on asylum adjudicators’ subjective perceptions of asylum seekers’ memories.
Credibility determinations thus often rest on the consistency (or lack thereof) in an asylum seeker’s story. The REAL ID Act provides that “ … a trier of fact may base a credibility determination on … the consistency between the applicant’s or witness’s written and oral statements … , the internal consistency of each such statement, the consistency of such statements with other evidence of record … , and any inaccuracies or falsehoods in such statements, without regard to whether an inconsistency, inaccuracy, or falsehood goes to the heart of the applicant’s claim, or any other relevant factor.”
Asylum applicants will often recount their stories at multiple points in the legal journey, including immediately upon entry into the U.S.; in a subsequent written affidavit; and before an asylum officer or immigration judge. If inconsistencies or inaccuracies emerge, the asylum adjudicator often infers that the asylum seeker intends to deliberately mislead him or her.
There is, of course, a logic to this inference. If the story changes, one might reasonably infer that the storyteller is purposely crafting a narrative more favorable to a preferred legal outcome.
Intuition is important, but decades of research into the neuroscience of memory suggest that such intuitions need to be carefully examined. Research conclusively shows that memory is not a digital recording of our lives, and thus changes in asylum seekers’ narratives over time may not be due to deliberate deception but rather to the nature of human memory itself.
Autobiographical memories are not accessed as one might re-watch a scene from a movie. Rather, memories are “dynamically reconstructed mental representations,” and they change every time they are retrieved and recounted.
Memory scientists typically talk about three phases of a memory: Encoding (when the sensory systems first register the sights, sounds, smells and more of an event); storage (when that memory gets tucked away in the brain for later use); and retrieval (when the memory is consciously recalled). Context affects each of these stages. Of great relevance to asylum seekers’ credibility is the well-known finding that trauma and stress affect how memories are initially encoded, whether and how they are stored, and how we consciously recall them.
The bottom line for credibility is that inconsistencies in autobiographical recall may not reflect a willful attempt to bend the truth, but rather the biological reality that recalling memories usually involves modification of those memories in ways of which most people are not fully aware.
Do asylum adjudicators take notice of this neuroscience? In theory, they could. The Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations Directorate (“RAIO”) Manual for Officer Training tells officers that it is “[their] job to determine whether those inconsistencies and/or contradictions are due to a lack of credibility or may be explained by other factors.” One of these “other factors” is the basic neurobiology of trauma and memory. But in practice, it is difficult to gauge the extent to which asylum officers abide by this instruction.
What would it mean for asylum adjudicators to better understand the relationship between memory, narrative inconsistency, credibility, and the human brain? To begin, it would entail the realization that many asylum seekers have endured tremendous trauma, and that this trauma often has documented effects on memory. Asylum seekers who have experienced trauma in their home countries, on the way to the U.S., or upon entry into the U.S., are often burdened by these effects. Brain scan research on individuals with PTSD, for instance, finds decreased activity in the brain networks associated with autobiographical memory, and an associated decrease in specific autobiographical recall. Given the prevalence of PTSD among asylum seekers, it is likely that many otherwise credible refugees will fail to describe their journeys, fears, and traumas in a detailed, coherent manner across multiple interviews. This failure, however, does not necessarily indicate a lack of credibility.
Acute stress often interferes with autobiographical memory. People perform more poorly on memory tests after injections of hydrocortisone, a compound which mimics the effects of cortisol on the body. When faced with significant trauma, children often recount memories in a vaguer, less detailed manner, regardless of the presence or extent of primary psychological conditions.
It remains unknown exactly how trauma and memory are related in the brain. Some researchers believe that trauma leads to an over-general mode of autobiographical memory largely because the exclusion of detail might prevent re-traumatization. Others argue that trauma directly alters the activity of certain neurological networks, changing one’s ability to retrieve and recall specific memories. Regardless of the particular theory embraced, however, there is general agreement that people with histories of trauma have more altered capacities to remember specific details of events in their lives, and that those alterations are at least associated with measurable changes in neurological structure, function, and physiology.
So far, this neuroscientific knowledge has not been widely introduced to asylum officers or immigration judges. When these adjudicators determine that an applicant is not credible, “they overwhelmingly rely on inconsistencies within or among the various versions of the applicant’s story.” Can this gap between scientific understanding of memory and legal practice be bridged? At the MGH Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior, we think the answer is yes—with sustained effort and input from multiple disciplines.
Three areas are ripe for exploration. First, attorneys and judges need an improved understanding of how autobiographical memory works. To be sure, memory neuroscience cannot provide an asylum officer or immigration judge with an individualized “credibility detector.” But neuroscience can provide evidence for re-examining default presumptions that tend to equate inconsistency with deliberate falsehood.
Second, scientific articles standing alone are not sufficient to inform legal doctrine and practice. Actionable neuroscience requires the development of materials that can be readily adapted by lawyers to put forth arguments related to neuroscience, memory, trauma, and credibility.
Third, extended dialogue is required to explore both the promise and pitfalls of introducing neuroscience into asylum case law. For instance, might neuroscience memory research allow government lawyers to challenge otherwise consistent recollections? Just as a criminal defense attorney might call a “false memory” expert to aid his or her client’s defense, could similar arguments be made in the asylum context to undercut genuine claims of persecution? These and other concerns must be adequately addressed as part of an on-going law and neuroscience dialogue.
As with any new endeavor, the path for neuroscience and law in asylum cases is not clear. But there is much promise, and we hope there will be much more dialogue in the future.
About the MGH Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior: The Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior works at the vanguard of applied neuroscience, making neuroscience actionable for the legal community in order to ensure just and positive outcomes for all those affected by the law. Though the brain and the law are both complex, our work is quite simple: helping judges, lawyers, case workers, enforcement agents and many other actors across the legal ecosystem determine the right solutions for the right people and cases. We promote and enable the sound application of accurate neuroscience to critical areas of the legal process: criminal trials and sentencing, juvenile justice, elder protection and immigration enforcement and asylum. For more, see clbb.org.
Hi Jason,
I am out of job almost 2 months and i dont have money to hire a Attorney , so I am preparing myself to file I-485 , if possible you can guide me to fill the application, and i was follow up with your blogs all the day almost 3 years and based on your input in this blog am helping many people( Asylee ), and am suggesting them to post their Asylum related question in this Blog.
Jason , i seen someone post their I-485 form rejected due to the expired Edition ( date ).
i seen in USCIS the edition date is 10/15/19, is this’s the updated one.
can you please tell me where i can get the update Edition form ( I-485 ) ..
Thanks for your help and support in advance.
I am actually planning to do a post about this, but it may not be for a while. It seems USCIS is denying I-485 applications for small reasons. For example, I saw one denial where the applicant checked a wrong box – he said he was a refugee, not an asylee. And for this, they denied and he lost his money! Another example (not an asylee) was a person who filed the I-485 and forgot to include a birth certificate. USCIS again denied the case. In the past, they would have sent a request for evidence in these cases and corrected the problem, but not, they seem to be denying people for small reasons. Also, make sure that your I-485 is consistent with your I-589, especially in terms of arrests (including political arrests), organization memberships, and whether you ever misrepresented any information to the US government (including your visa application). I did a post on November 13, 2017 that discusses some of this. As for the form, use the version you find at http://www.uscis.gov, that is the most up-to-date. Take care, Jason
Thank you for above input. I am also in process of preparing my own I-485 so that i can hire someone to look through my form to make sure everything is correct.
About membership start date
(Form I-485, Page 10, Part 8, Item 5a):
I found that in my I-589
(Form I-589, Page 6, Part B, Item 3A) that was submitted to court Has a START date “Typo”.
Supporting documents attached to I-589 and membership ID cards including sworn affidavit that was submitted to USCIS and everywhere else has correct membership START date.
*My case was referred and approved in court, somehow during my initial USCIS interview i forgot to amend that “Typo” in date.
——
I am planning to disclose this on my I-485.
I am planning to circle that START date question and explain in additional page. That there is a typo that i forgot to amend during my interview.
Do you think this is a good idea Jason?
Or is there any better way to write this please?
Thank you so much jason.
This makes sense to me. If there is a typo on the form, but you got the date correct elsewhere, you may want to mention that too (“I stated the incorrect date on the form, but my affidavit mentions the correct date, and I included evidence about the start date”). Take care, Jason
My mom in law came from Iraq to USA two months ago, can she apply to Asylm now?
Anyone who is physically in the US may apply for asylum. There are some minor issues related to filing soon after you enter (USCIS might accuse you of not telling the truth on your visa, and of having an intention to seek asylum at the time you came here), but these are generally overcome if a person is granted asylum. Take care, Jason
Hello,everyone!
I am sharing with you guys how my asylum interview went some months ago.
I was expecting the officer to ask me many questions, however that has not been the case at all.
The officer spent her time typing what I was saying.She asked me only two questions about my statement.The interview lasted 30 minutes.
She did not ask to see the originals of the evidences that I submitted with my application.When I decided to show her she said that I was fine.
Although my attorney said that I did a great job by explaining my case to the officer, I had the impression that she was not interested that is why she did not ask to see the originals.
If she was why she did not ask about the originals of my evidences?
Your comments are more than welcome 🙏
May God bless you!
That seems like a pleasant experience. Which asylum office was this and what month?
Also, can you describe your case a bit? Where are you from?
Joseph, I understand your concern; I don’t think this is anything to worry about,though. I offered my original docs and the officer declined. She said the copies were OK. Also, the amount of time you spend in an interview is not an indication of the outcome. Temperament is also not a good indicator.
What is important is to ensure that you tell the truth consistently. The strength of your case is also important. How much you demonstrate that you meet the definition of a refugee is extremely important.I always tell people that if I were an asylum lawyer, I would focus on making sure that my client demonstrate to the officer/judge that s/he is a refugee. What may also determine your case is if you filed within the one year deadline and haven’t been charged for a crime that can bar you from receiving asylum.
This seems unusual to me. In some cases–where the person failed to file within a year of arrival, for example–there is a short interview to see whether the person overcomes the one-year bar, but in most cases, the officer asks about more details of the claim. As for looking at documents, not all officers do that, so that part is not particularly unusual. Take care, Jason
Dear Jason,
I hope you and your family are well and safe during these difficult times. I would like to ask you please about your advice regarding my asylum case which is still pending since July 2013 (almost 7 years). I am Syrian, so I know that they treat us as special cases/threats:
– I had the 1st interview on March 2017
– I had a 2nd interview on October 2018
I vainly tried to get more concrete information about the reason why they are holding my case hostage after all these years (I know that the security check was already completed based on a trusted source).
– Most recently (late March) I was able to contact AILA who placed an inquiry on my case during a “problem cases” meeting with the Boston Asylum Office Director, and they told me the following “The asylum office director informed us the case is still under review. She did not provide any more details at this time. She did mention that we can expect more decisions in the coming weeks given that officers are not interviewing and have more time to review cases at the moment. Fingers crossed!”
– A few days ago, a prominent Boston-based lawyer emailed me saying that the Asylum office did not make any decisions and recommended filing a writ mandamus (which is something he doesn’t do and I can’t afford its fee as I have a new baby and the pandemic have affected our jobs)
– I would like to ask you please why do they hold “interviewed cases” pending indefinitely when they already have a huge backlog? Do you recommend filing a writ mandamus in my case, I am in a valid student status until 2021, so I think there is a risk of getting a negative decision and not having the case referred to the court, is that correct?
– I am really tired and didn’t see my family in 8 years and it does not seem there is any shred of hope especially under this fascist administration, but thank you for all what you have been doing for millions of asylum seekers over the last years.
A mandamus is a way to get a decision – we wrote about it on October 2, 2018. Some lawyers (and even non-profits) would do such a case for a reasonable price (less than $2000). You might also try to do that on your own. I am not sure what would happen if the case were denied – since you are in status, you likely would not be referred to court, unless the asylum office concludes that you violated your F-1 and are no longer in status (there was a memo about that a few years ago, basically stating that F-1 people who are denied asylum should be considered out of status and sent to court, but I do not know that the policy was actually implemented and know of no examples where it happened). Alternatively, since you are (probably) in status, you might seek alternatives, such as OPT, H1b, and employment-based green card. You can try to travel while the case is pending using Advance Parole (I wrote about that on September 11, 2017). I do agree that Syrians are treated worse than most other nationals, and I am not sure why, but it is what I have observed. This bad treatment does not seem to extend to Immigration Courts, which treat Syrians more like people from other countries, so even if you lost at the asylum office, you might be better off in court – at least you would have a date for your hearing. In short, if you have an alternative means to get the GC, maybe you want to forget about the mandamus, but if not, I do think that is your best bet at this time. Take care, Jason
A quick question with the immigration physical does anybody know how much is the time in between the physician’s sign and application reach USCIS? In case due to some reason it was delayed does the lab work has to be done all over again and not the resign from physician can do.
From the date the exam is signed, it must be submitted within 60 days (you can see this on the form I-693 webpage at http://www.uscis.gov). It is best to have as little time as possible between the exam and submission, as you do not want the thing to expire before you submit it. Take care, Jason
Hello everbody, i have a question do you How can i change my address in immigration court cause i just moved i know how to do with uscis but i do not know how can i do that with corut i am still same state just change my city thats it.
Thank you.
Use form EOIR-33 (you can Google that). One copy goes to the court and one copy goes to DHS (there are links at right to the Immigration Court and DHS Office of the Chief Counsel). Take care, Jason
Hello Jason, I am a asylum seeker who have waiting for the interview about 4 years. I have some questions, and I appreciate it if you can give me some answer or advice.
1-Is that normal for waiting more than 4 years for an interview? When do you think I can get my interview?
2-Under the standard procedure, how long will the interview office notify the interview in advance?
3-I lost my original evidence when I got moving, will I fail the interview without the original evidence (I submit a copy of my evidence when apply) ？ Is there anything I can do to redeem this situation?
4-Under the LIFO policy, if my husband file an new asylum application(he was dependent in my case), will we got a soon interview?
5-If we trans our case to other state, will we get our interview move up?
1 – It is not unusual. I could not predict when the interview might be. They seem to have hired a lot of new officers, so if things reopen, hopefully, the cases will move along. Also, you might try to expedite once things reopen – I wrote about that on March 30, 2017. 2 – It varies by office, but is usually between a few weeks and a month. 3 – You can and should file a Freedom of Information Act request, form G-639, available at http://www.uscis.gov, to get a copy of your file. 4 – I do not think so, as he is already a dependent on your case, it is not treated as a first application and so will not have priority under LIFO. I am not 100% sure about that, as it may vary by office, so you can email your local office to ask. You can find their email if you follow the link at right called Asylum Office Locator. 5 – I did a post on June 12, 2019 about which offices were faster. I do not know whether it will be relevant once things reopen, but it is the latest data I have seen about this issue. Moving the case might cause it to be faster, but there is no guarantee. Take care, Jason
Thank you so much Jason! Thank you for your patiently reply! But I still have some confuse about the 3rd question. Actually I have the digital copy of my evidence save in my computer, I just lose the original document, my confuse is: is that a negative element in my interview without the original evidence document? If yes, how can I reduce it?
If you already submitted it, they will have that evidence. However, since you cannot review it, you might not remember what you submitted, which could create problems (for example, you do not want your testimony to be inconsistent with your evidence, and if you cannot review your evidence, that could happen). I recommend you request a copy of your file, so you have everything that they have. Take care, Jason
Sorry I forgot mention that I didn’t submit the original evidence document when I filed my case but only the copy, because it was in my home country at that time.
That is fine. You can bring the originals to the interview. We almost never submit original documents. Take care, Jason
I was searching the internet to see what the situation is in different asylum offices to see which office is handling their backlog better. I live in North Carolina which means that my asylum office is the one in Arlington. I found the FY 2019 statistics in the USCIS website. It seems like in the last published months (about 8 months ago) Arlington was receiving an average of 500-600 cases and only interviewing 100-200 people per month. Apparently the Arlington asylum office is also in charge of doing the credible fear interviews at the border with Mexico, which means that the asylum officers are regularly reassigned to the southern border case load thus leading to the low number of interviews conducted for affirmative cases. I would be willing to file in any of the other offices and travel for my interview, but that does not seem to be a possibility at this point. I hope things will get better soon.
The most recent post I did on this issue was on June 12, 2019. The problem is that the Asylum Division frequently changes how they distribute work, and so a fast office today could be a slow office tomorrow. Before the shutdown, Arlington had hired many new officers and told us that they expected to complete all backlog cases in 2 years (this seemed overly ambitious to me, but that is what they said). Once things reopen, we will have to see how the different offices are working, and we won’t know that very quickly. As for filing, you have to file where you live, and so if you want to be in a particular office, you have to live within that office’s jurisdiction (you can check what office will interview you if you follow the link at right called Asylum Office Locator). Take care, Jason
hi Jason,
thanks for the usual help
Does USCIS start taking/making Biometric appointment?
thanks
As far as I know, they have not started scheduling biometric appointments. Take care, Jason
I am mourning the death of my older sister .I am coming to everyone help me have the right information how I can leave the US and participate in her funeral.My sister was living in a different country.I have a pending asylum case. I had my interview and waiting a decision.Help please.
May God bless all of you!
I am sorry for your loss. If you have a pending asylum case at the asylum office, the way to travel and return is with Advance Parole (“AP”). Unfortunately, AP is not a fast process (maybe 6 months). I wrote about AP on September 11, 2017. I also wrote about trying to expedite a case with USCIS on January 29, 2020. Maybe those posts will help. If you can get AP, and it is valid, you should not have a problem returning to the US. However, if you returns to the country of persecution, that could impact the asylum case and potentially cause you to lose the case. At a minimum, you would need to explain why you returned and how you stayed safe (and get evidence about that). If you have a case in Immigration Court, it is probably not possible to leave and return. If that is the case, talk to a lawyer about what to do, but I know of no way to travel and return for most people. Take care, Jason
Thank you Jason for your enlightenment!
May God bless you for everything you have been doing for us so far.
Jason, I have been a follower of your blog. Although I have not visited it recently, it really helped me a lot when I was applying for my asylum. I am glad to inform you that I became a US citizen back in January. It has been an amazing journey from being an illegal immigrant to finally holding a US Passport. The journey was no means easy with waits, anxiety, denials (followed by grants!). But overall when I look back it has been a very enriching roller coaster experience of life where I learnt a lot of valuable lessons and made me a stronger person. Thank you for all that you do, even for people like me who are not your clients and do not pay you a dime. Best of luck to everyone- hang in there.
Congratulations on finally completing the journey! Thank you for letting us know, and I wish you well in the United States. Take care, Jason
Hello Jason, I have waited my asylum interview since 2016 and still got nothing. But that not the worst, the worst is I received an email from my attorney yesterday, in the email he said he will not being an attorney anymore and have already closed his law office. He is going to terminate the contract and not present as my attorney anymore. I don’t have any idea of what should I do now. Should I hire a new attorney? Or just waiting for the interview? And how about the fee I have already paid? Can I ask some money back?
It is generally a good idea to have an attorney – if you have already submitted your documents for the case, you may still want to update the evidence and you need to practice for the interview. Also, depending on the case, it is a good idea to have a lawyer with you for the interview. Based on this, you may want to find another lawyer if you can. As for the fees you paid, you may be entitled to a refund – when a client pays the lawyer, the money goes into a “trust” account and then the lawyer earns it by doing work. If the lawyer has not done enough work, he has not earned the money and must return it. In practice, it is not easy to get money back, but you can ask about this, and if you think the money was not earned, you can ask for an accounting of the lawyer’s time (to see whether he actually earned the money). Take care, Jason
Thank you for your reply Jason, I still have some other questions. 1, How much does it cost if I hire a new lawyer for doing the rest work?(My previous lawyer said he will refund me only $300 where I paid him $4000 in total, but I don’t think it’s enough to hire a new lawyer.) 2, Does lawyer being allowed attend the interview? My previous lawyer said the interview only allowed asylum seeker and interpreter attended. 3, Where is your office? Do you take client from Los Angeles? 4, Does your office have any interpreter for some client who can speak limit English?
1 – Every lawyer is different, so there is no way to answer this. Generally, it depends how much work needs to be done, but remember that any new lawyer need to learn the case, which takes time. 2 – Lawyers can attend the interview – we do it all the time (well, before the shutdown, anyway). 3 – I am in Washington, DC. I can do a case in LA, but it is going to be more expensive, and it is probably not worth the money to fly me to LA for an interview (though I can do it, if you really want). 4 – We do not have interpreters, but you can use professionals or friends, though it is best not to use close family members. Take care, Jason
Hello Jason, i hope you are doing well, i have a question,My Individual Hearing date is on this coming December, do you think it is going to be postponed cause this pandemic or no? if closing court will be go on what would happen to cases?
Best,
I don’t know, but I expect things will be opening up by then – I hope. If it is postponed, the court will give you a new date. Take care, Jason
So, I reached out to my lawyer about starting on my application for my Green Card. Well, its gonna be $1,200. It looks like the waiver is too much work to get it. Might as well pay it and get it over with.
For what it’s worth, I think that is a reasonable fee (my offices charges $1500 for cases where the asylee is seeking a GC). Take care, Jason
Dear Jason! I’m an asylee. Still waiting for the interview. I lost my job a month ago due to COVID-19. I’m running out of cash. I’ve never done that before but now I consider to apply for unepoloyment. Do you think it can damage my case? Also I’d like to ask you, do you accept a credit card like Discover for your job? Any extra fee for paying with credit? Best, Tom
Unemployment would have no effect on an asylum case. However, not having a job could potentially be an issue for other types of cases under the public charge rules – it depends on the case. While being unemployed might be a n issue, collecting unemployment should not affect a case. If you are asking about my office and payments, we do accept credit cards, and the company charges a 2.5% processing fee, which we pass on to the clients. I am sure different lawyers have different practices about this. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason,
Can you please help me understand this. You said getting unemployment benefits have no effects on a asylum case,however, not having a job could potentially be an issue for other types of cases under the public charge rules. Can you please explain how? As you have said before that public charge rule isn’t applicable to the asylum seekers.
The public charge rules do not apply to asylum seekers or asylees (or people with a green card), and so the only way being unemployed might affect you is if you are seeking a GC through some way other than asylum – maybe through a family petition, for example. The public charge rules are complicated, but you can learn more if you look at the form I-944 and its instruction pages, available at http://www.uscis.gov. Take care, Jason
Thank you so much.
Hey Jason,
hope you’re doing well – with a lot of prayers for everyone to remain safe from all the chaos caused by COVID-19. Thank you for your continuous support and care. i have a couple of questions;
1. Second follow-up interviews common nowadays and if you could share some general reasons?
2. Is it a positive sign or more inclined towards denial eventually?
3. Do AO investigate and ask questions related to applicants financial matters such resource of income, bank account and tax returns etc? – or mainly asking for more explanation /clarification or documents related to applicants political/religious asylum claim with reference to the affidavit and documents submitted?
4. can an applicant’s lawyers enquire for reasons for the follow up interview to better prepare his client and prepare relevant documents before the interview is conducted?
5. does USCIS investigates applicant’s tax returns, run credit checks etc if the applicant is in states for more than 3-4 years?
thank you again and it will be great to get your feedback based on your experience.
best wishes
1 – In my experience, second asylum interviews are not all that common – maybe 10% or less of my cases. There are many reasons, ranging from the asylum officer not doing a great job or quiting before the case is done, to new evidence arising, etc. 2 – In my experience, it does not seem to be a positive or a negative sign. 3 – I have not had an AO ask about these things, at least not that I can remember. They tend to stick to the facts related to the substance of the case or to general credibility. 4 – The lawyer or applicant can ask, but usually, the officers will not give a reason beforehand. It is best to prepare as if it is a first interview, and to review what happened at the prior interview, since even if you know what the AO wants to ask, other issues could come up. 5 – I am not sure what all the background checks entail, but it is best to assume that they know everything and prepare accordingly. Take care, Jason
Thank you Jason, for your valuable input. Stay blessed 🙂
Dear Jason, I hope you are doing well!
I was granted asylum on February 2020, Now I am offered a job where I am required to travel a lot to Europe and the Middle east ( except my home country of course) . I do not have any criminal records in the US, do you think that it is risky to travel using a refugee travel document before obtaining a green card? or can an asylee generally travel successfully with RTD? Thank you so much !
My personal experience…I travelled twice with RTD (without green card), absolutely no issues and no secondary inspection. I also traveled later after green card and re-entry permit three more times. Asylees are allowed to travel freely with RTD, although if you travel to home country USCIS may question your asylum claim so please be cautious if planning on doing so. I have not traveled to home country for many years and I’m now a US citizen. The reason is that it is really not safe for me to travel.
Also I forgot to mention that absence from US may delay your green card. If you spend 3 months working out of the country you will have to wait 1 year 3 months after grant date to file I-485.
If you have a valid RTD, there should be no problem traveling and returning. However, some countries will not accept the RTD in lieu of a passport, and so you need to try to check that in advance. It is better not to use your passport, but if you do, you will need to explain why you did that and this could cause the US government to look again at your old asylum case (if the persecutors are terrorists, as opposed to your home government, this is easier to explain). I have never heard of anyone having any major problems because they used their passport, but it is best to avoid that if possible. Take care, Jason
Hi!
I was granted asylum in 2018 and I have an RTD. I have traveled twice with it (to Canada) and didn’t have big issues.
Here’s a tip: Get ready to explain that you have asylum, what a refugee travel document is to almost anyone you encounter at the airports (check-in people, security, border officers, even CBP officers). An RTD isn’t widely known and people will ask what’s that.
My experience:
When I was returning from my first trip from Canada, the CBP officer made me wait, talked to her supervisor, and gave a different stamp (special stamp for asylees) than regular.
Returning from my second trip, the CBP officer at Newark didn’t know what a Travel Document is, I explained to him. He just said “I guess you’re good”, and put the regular stamp.
Also, the check-in attendant for American Airlines denied my check-in because the RTD “isn’t a US passport”. Then I asked for someone else to come and she processed my check-in.
Good luck!
ASYLEE WITH RTD, thank you for saying this. The people who travel with RTD are either lying or just don’t want to tell what they actually experience. I know many people who use RTD and they nearly always say the same thing you are saying. They always talk about dreaded secondary inspections and how immigration officers and airport workers don’t know what RTD is.
I hear about this too – that CBP officers often have no idea what the RTD is. Crazy. Take care, Jason
Thank you all for all your responses! such a great community here that really helps, and thank you agian Mr.Jason
Hello!
My attorney received copy of our decision, and our case referred to the IJ in Arlington . My attorney too his firm can not handle case like ours . So I want you help us. I want to make an appointment with you. Please give us your phone number we can contact with you .
The best way is email: JDzubow@DzubowLaw.com. I do not know if I will get to email today, but I will respond as soon as I can. Take care, Jason
Hello Jason how are you? something crossed my mind and I thought to ask you. has there been a time where at an MCH a case was tossed out and asylum granted? is that even a possibility?
Technically, yes, but it is usually after there has been some substantive discussion of the case previously – for example, maybe there was a prior Master or Individual Hearing where the case was decided, and then for whatever reason, it was set to a MCH for the Judge to issue an uncontested decisions. In short, it is possible, but I think it would be very rare at a first MCH for DHS to agree to asylum and the Judge to grant it. In any case, I think I have never seen that. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason,
Do you think that with the USCIS offices closed now, officers will be working on already-interviewed cases and that decisions will be issued faster for those cases ?
Thanks
You would think so, and to some extent, they clearly are working. In terms of getting decisions out more quickly, maybe they are, but we have seen no evidence of that in any of my cases. Take care, Jason
I know for sure that they are working on declining expedited request.
Expedite request
I can confirm that. ZMI request for expedited interview denied on May 1st.
On the plus side, I guess it is a sign of life at the asylum offices…
It was so polite I wondered if it was really from this administration.
My interpretation of the letter: Your medical issue is not considered serious enough + if you die, oh well!
The expedite process is pretty random, but of course, they really cannot expedite any cases when they are closed, and so the timing seems a little strange to me. Take care, Jason
Jason,
Interesting article! But, the irony is some alien are being suffering and more traumatized here in the US than where they actually persecuted from. The prolonged asylum processing, separation from their children and loved ones for years, loneliness and hopelessness … is a new chapter of trauma and stress. I wish the judges and officers has also this humanly understanding.
Thanks,
I agree with this. I wrote something about it on January 9, 2018 if you are interested. Take care, Jason
Jason,
Do you have any knowledge that uscis is still working on processing RTD(I131) ? Do they adhere to the processing time posted in the web ? Even during these days ?
Thanks,
Sambod
I do not know for sure, but we are – once in a while – receiving a decision from them, so I think they are still working on forms (I do not know specifically about the I-131). As to processing times, I never trusted them much anyway, and I doubt they are being followed now. Take care, Jason
Hi Sambod,
Sharing with you my timeline for I-131 Travel Passport.
Applied: January 2020
Approved and Received: April 2020
Hope this will help
Hi,
If I would like to travel for not more than 10 to 15days to another country not the country I am from or seeking asylum from. Will that be too long?
A lawyer is advising for me not to leave until there is a result. But he could do the AP for just the asylum though it will be a risk since the final decision is stay pending that they may give a bad decision why I am away for the 10 – 15days. It scare me after waiting for almost 4yrs without travelling. Have this happen before? When given AP, Will they not accept the AP at the airport upon return? Will they consider it as abandoning my case Even with an approved 15days AP from them? And if I do apply for the GC n don’t apply for AP for the GC, will they say I abandon the GC Application for leaving for 10- 15days on AP for Asylum? What is your experience?
I am really confuse n missed my kids my family a lot. I can’t go back to the country am from cuz things has no longer the same anymore. Unpleasant. Please what do I do?
If you have valid AP, your asylum case is pending, and you do not travel to the country of persecution, you should be fine. If a negative decision is issued while you are gone, there is some risk. I have not seen that happen, but one possibility is that you will be stopped at the airport in the US and detained, and then will have to ask for asylum there. I think that is not very likely, given the short trip, but it is a risk. Also, if you leave from an airport overseas where the US does the inspection (for example, in Dubai, you undergo US customs inspection before you board the flight to the US), there is a greater risk, as they can simply turn you away at the airport, so try to leave from an airport where that does not happen. As to the question about the GC, I do not understand what you are asking. If you have a pending GC application pending in the US and you leave with AP, that could result in abandonment, but it probably depends on the case you have. Take care, Jason
Thank Jason for the post.
Do you think that inconsistencies can lead to a delay in issuing a decision or it is often one of the reasons why most cases are referred to court? I am sick and tired of waiting. I have asked the asylum office having jurisdiction over my case to send it to court but they don’t want to take an action after waiting for a decision for about years now
Desperate, we are all in the same boat.
I have been waiting for my decision for 20 months now from Chicago Asylum Office which have jurisdiction over my case.
I have been trying in vain to understand the different reasons behind this delay, but everyone is telling the same thing:Trump’s administration.
So why they don’t just send people to court instead of making them wait for a long time in limbo.May God better Trump’s heart and give him feelings that most leaders need to make the world a better to live.
Delays existed long before Mr. Trump became President, and so I do not think that is the reason (though his Administration’s general maliciousness and incompetence has not helped matters). Take care, Jason
Hey Hope,
We are both at the same office. I have asked them to refer me to court since they don’t want to issue any decision. It is very frustrating
Desperate,
How long have you been waiting for?
After 2 years I will sue them.
I don’t care
Hey Hope,
I have been waiting for nearly 4 years now
Sue the cr@p out of them . I do too
I doubt inconsistencies would cause much delay. I suppose it is possible, but generally, they would be a basis to deny. If the inconsistencies are small, the officer might decide to grant in spite of those issues. Either way, I doubt this is a major source of delay. Usually, it is the security background check, but there can be other reasons – I wrote about some on October 21, 2014. Take care, Jason
Thank you for the interesting article. I feel, however, there is a conflation here where a finding of non-credibility indicates, as you say, deception or lying. However, might finding an asylum seeker not credible not entail this kind of judgment? If an asylum seeker’s recounting is incoherent or inconsistent, as you say it is likely to be, does that not mean that their testimony may not be credible or reliable as a whole, not due to malice on the part of the applicant, but because they are unable to give facts on which the trier of fact can safely base a decision upon? This may be particularly true when there is an inconsistency with a document or something unchanging.
I think that is an issue the authors touch upon near the end, but it seems to me that every witness needs to be evaluated in terms of consistency, but also in terms of any issues that might affect memory (such as trauma). The more we know about how memory works, and how it can be affected by trauma, the better. Take care, Jason
Where were you when I needed you?
I spent the last ten years of my professional life in USCIS trying to teach new asylum and refugee officers about credibility. I took over the Credibility portfolio just after passage of the REAL ID Act in 2005 and when the decision was made to combine the training of asylum officers and refugee officers in 2010, I was assigned to create a common lesson plan for both programs based on their individual lesson modules. The actual first combined class didn’t take place till late 2012, so I had plenty of time to work on the lesson module.
Fortunately as I began, a journal article was published in International Journal of Refugee Law titled “Refugee Status Determinations and the Limits of Memory”, which I used to inform the overall tone of the lesson plan. Cameron based her article mostly on research in Cognitive Psychology and I dutifully gathered together all her sources and went through them and followed up on their sources and eventually ended up with a conclusion that, as lie detectors, human beings are crap. It seemed as though the best trained law enforcement personnel were able to accurately detect deception about 60% of the time in clinical experiments. The general populace had coin flip odds. So we decided to try to change the focus in the credibility lesson from detecting deception (a fools errand) to one of determining if reasons for doubting credibility were legally sufficient. We set up a procedure for the officers to follow, where they were to clearly identify what their credibility concern was, explain it to the applicant and give opportunity to explain and then determine the reasonableness of the explanation. That seemed the best we could do in terms of teaching.
While I found the cognitive psychology materials helpful, neuroscience is a bit more substantial and having some hard science to back up the psychology would have been helpful. In essence, the explanations of why human memory sucks would be more readily accepted if there were some scientific explanation of why it sucks.
But I’ve been out of it for five years now and my contacts with my colleagues has been sufficient for me to realize that they have probably completely rewritten all the materials I labored over for two full years and probably tossed out the most useful stuff. Assuming some sanity is restored to the world next year I am certain that they will be rewriting the rewrites and it would be nice if the authors would reach out to the asylum training program next year and see if they can help in the next major revisions in the Credibility training materials.
Thank you for the comment. I also feel like methods to detect lies are not very effective (I did an article once called Credibility Determinations Are Not Credible). Anyway, my sense is that the authors hope to continue this work and hope to involve the government, should the government ever again be interested in facts and science. Take care, Jason
Hey,
I had my asylum interview since Aug 2019 no final result yet. Do you think its ok to travel without a final result? Is it likely that my case will be granted or not? I just got a EAD renewal for another 2yrs. Does that mean my case will not get a respond until the next 2yrs? Is it possible that my case can be denial when I leave on a short visit ot travel outside the US? What is is the possibility? Am really worry now. Its been 4 going to 5yrs since I applied. Almost all who applied at the same time but from different countries and cases got their result from expediting. Like am the only on left under the lawyer who worked on my case. Even though there are others she stay representing but new cases.
My lawyer made expedited request for me n no result, requested respond from the request it says case pending with top management. I tried requesting the result myself through a short letter, they give me the same respond.
Lastly with the virus situation do u think they can give result for cases like mine?
What you think? Or advice? Request to travel and return? Or forget traveling due to fear that my case may be rejected when am gone and may not be allow back in the USA according to the Lawyer.
Can I applied for another GC program why my case result is stay pending? Will that should inconveniences in my asylum case Even though I am hoping to make all references to my past asylum application?
And can I travel on the GC application travel document when I apply for it or asylum travel document since its stay pending?
Hello,Walker!
I am living a situation similar to yours. I would even say worse than yours. I have waiting for a decision for 20 months now.I was wondering which should make your decision?
Mine is Chicago Asylum Office.
There is no way to know when they will issue a decision, but things are very slow now, so it is probably less likely to come soon (but you never know). I wrote about Advance Parole on September 11, 2017 – maybe that would help. If you travel and get a negative decision while you are gone, that could be a problem, and so if you must travel, you should keep the trip short and realize that there is some risk. I expect you will be able to get back on the plane to return (but be aware that in some airports, US customs inspects you before you get on the plane, and so you could be refused boarding), but you could potentially be detained upon arrival here. As for other paths to a GC, maybe that is possible. I did a couple posts about that on August 2 and 28, 2018. Generally, if you are out of status now (aside from the pending asylum), you cannot easily do it, but you could talk to a lawyer to be sure, as there are sometimes exceptions to the general rule. Take care, Jason
Hello Jason,
I hope you are doing well. The above blog directly related to my asylum case.
My asylum case is denied due to inconsistency (credibility issue) that goes to the heart of the my claim.
From your experience, can such material inconsistency be won in the court ? I want to assess the likelihood of my asylum case being grant in the court.
Thank you for what you do to help asylum seekers like me
It is difficult to say without knowing specifics, but the judge makes a new decision and does not care what the asylum officer did. We have won many cases in court that were denied at the asylum office level. However, you need to identify the inconsistencies as best you can, and then explain them (in your affidavit and hopefully with evidence). The ICE attorney (the prosecutor) will probably have a copy of the asylum officer notes and assessment and can use that to impeach your credibility. If you can get those documents, it is helpful (we did a blog post about that on April 16, 2020), but it is not always easy to get them, so at least try to write down whatever problems you think you had at the asylum interview, so if you have an attorney, you can share that information with the attorney. But in short, it is probably still possible to win in court, but you need to do your best to deal with the prior inconsistencies. Take care, Jason
Hello Jason,
Hope your doing good.
I know this pandemic feel like home sick everyone .
Jason I need your help , Last year I got my asylum granted on June 2019. And I know this year June am eligible to apply I-485 , Now when I check my granted letter it mention two different dates so which one is correct, 1) On top of the paper it stamped June 07 2019 , and next 2) it’s printed Notice Date – 06-05-2019.
Thanks for your help please.
W.John
It is normally the date in the body of the letter. Do note that if you left the US for any time during the last year, you have to wait extra time at the end. For example, if you left for 2 weeks, you have to wait 1 year and 2 weeks before you file for the GC. Take care, Jason
Amazing, thanks.