There was a time during the good old days of the Obama Administration when the Asylum Office would release quarterly statistics and even hold in-person stakeholder meetings where advocates could talk to the Asylum Office leadership. The Trump Administration worked hard to end transparency in government, and the pandemic didn’t help. As a result, the meetings and quarterly data disappeared. I had hoped that the Biden Administration would revive these practices, but that was not to be.
So now-a-days, we have to get our data where we can. This isn’t easy, but recently–as a result of my involvement in some Congressional lobbying efforts–I came across information about the Asylum Office that I thought I would share here.
This information comes with a few caveats. First, I obtained the data from USCIS’s response to an inquiry made by a Congress member’s office. My sense is that USCIS is more interested in making themselves look good than in providing accurate information, and so I am not fully confident in the numbers. Second, much of the information is inconsistent with my experience at the Asylum Office. It is also inconsistent with conversations I’ve had with Asylum Officers. Finally, the information is incomplete and is not broken down by Asylum Office. All this is a way of saying that while we have some data, it has limited value. Nevertheless, because the Asylum Office is not providing statistics, we must rely on what we have.
So what exactly do we have?
Earlier this year, USCIS established a “second track” for asylum interviews. The first track is LIFO, the last-in, first-out policy whereby new applications are interviewed before old applications, and which has been in effect since January 2018. Under the second track, Asylum Officers (AOs) are interviewing the oldest cases and working their way forward (first come, first served). According to USCIS, two or three officers per Asylum Office have been assigned to work on Track 2 cases, and interviews for these older cases started in May. Put another way, less than 5% of AOs are working on Track 2 cases.
Based on conversations with AOs at my local office (Virginia), more than two or three officers are working on old cases. The number may be as high as 50, but older cases take longer (because such cases need to be updated and because USCIS fails to request updates in advance of the interview) and these same AOs also have other responsibilities. Further, it is unclear which “old” cases are actually being interviewed. While USCIS says it is interviewing the oldest cases, in my office, we are seeing cases randomly plucked from the backlog, and of late, have had interviews for cases filed in 2015, 2018, and 2019.
In short, we have little clarity about how many officers are assigned to Track 2 cases, how many applicants are actually being interviewed, and whether cases are, in fact, being interviewed from oldest to newest. But since fortune favors the prepared, the implication for asylum seekers is fairly obvious: Make sure you have gathered your evidence and are ready, just in case you are randomly called for an interview.
Another claim from USCIS that I find questionable: “USCIS generally schedules second track interviews 45 days in advance of the interview.” USCIS blames “Postal Service delays outside of USCIS’ control” for “delayed receipt of interview notices.” Way to throw a fellow agency under the bus. Also, for me, this is utter malarkey. We rarely receive notices more than two weeks before the interview, and these delays have nothing to do with the Postal Service. It is common to see interview notices dated less than two weeks before the interview, and sometimes, we see notices that are printed but not mailed by the Asylum Office for days or weeks.
In the response to Congress, USCIS also sets forth the interview criteria for LIFO cases. Once a case is filed, it is considered “new” for 21 days, and if an interview is not scheduled during that time frame, the case falls into the backlog, where it is subject to Track 2 scheduling (in chronological order). Assuming this is all true, and allowing a few extra weeks for mailing delays, if you file a case and don’t get scheduled for an interview within a month or two, your case is likely in the backlog, and you should not expect an interview any time soon (though you can always try to expedite).
The Agency also gives us some numbers. In the first three quarters of FY 2024 (from October 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024), USCIS received 319,700 new affirmative asylum applications. During the same period, USCIS completed 100,500 cases. According to my math, this means the backlog increased by 219,200 cases. Combining this with previous data, we can estimate that the total nationwide backlog for affirmative asylum cases is about 1.5 million–and that’s cases, not people, since some cases include multiple people (spouse and children).
USCIS is still quite busy with credible fear interviews (initial evaluations of asylum eligibility for new arrivals), and received 157,600 in the first three quarters of FY 2024. During those months, the Agency completed 174,700 such cases, including thousands from the prior fiscal year. Such cases receive priority over affirmative asylum applications and use resources that would otherwise help reduce the backlog.
in terms of issuing decisions, USCIS claims that most applicants “should receive a decision within 20 days” of the interview. That is certainly not my experience, and we routinely see decisions taking many months, though I am not sure my cases are typical in this regard. USCIS notes that “a variety of factors, including security checks and competing workload priorities,” contribute to delayed decisions.
Unfortunately, that is all we know for now. I hope USCIS will see fit to increase transparency soon. It is bad enough that asylum seekers are left to wait for years on end, but it is even worse that they are forced to wait in the dark.
Hi Jason
Thank you for all your help to Asylum communities Your website has been so helpful for me during my journey
I just get my approval after seven years and this is my timeline:
I applied 2017
I expedite For interview and August 2023
I was interviewed January 3, 2024
01/5/2024 decision pending
May 16 back to application pending
August 8, 2024 back to decision pending
August 14,, 2024 New card is being produced
And then I get approval notice to my mail
Hi Jason
Thank you for all your help to Asylum communities Your website has been so helpful for me during my journey
I just get my approval after seven years and this is my timeline:
I applied 2017
I expedite For interview and August 2023
I was interviewed January 3, 2024
01/5/2024 decision pending
May 16 back to application pending
August 8, 2024 back to decision pending
August 14,, 2024 New card is being produced
And then I get approval notice to my mail
Hi Jason, thanks for sharing the piece. In your opinion what is a reasonable time to wait for a decision after the interview before starting inquiring and taking action?
Thank you
Also is it true that when suing USCIS for delayed decision, and there’s nothing they could do because the decision is pending because of a background check that’s out if their hands, they could just issue a denial decision as a way to get rid of the lawsuit?
I used to believe that, but now I am not so sure. It may be that they will deny a case if they cannot complete the background check, but mandamus lawsuits have become more common, and I have not seen that happen in any of those cases. I think if you reach a point where you can no longer keep waiting and want to file a mandamus lawsuit, you should do that and not let the security background check issue stop you. Take care, Jason
How long you wait before you inquire is up to you, but for my clients, I will not make an inquiry until at least 90 days have passed, as decisions take longer than that for almost all my cases. But there is no rule about this and a person can inquire whenever they want. I wrote more about this issue on June 2, 2021. Take care, Jason
Very good article Jason. May I know how long it takes USCIS to withdraw an application? Do withdrawals also take a long time? I submitted a letter to withdraw an application since 9-5 but it is still processing. Is it normal?
In my experience, it is pretty unpredictable (like everything else with this agency). Most cases take months. I would say if there is no news within 90 days, you can follow up. I do think filing to withdraw will prevent an interview from being scheduled, and so you do not have to worry about that, and even if they do schedule an interview, you can remind them about the withdrawal and they should cancel the interview. Take care, Jason
Im a citizen of Nepal . In 2021. applied for b1/b2 visitor visa but was denied for document under fraud and misrepresentation. Then 2024 later i entered usa and applied asylum with uscis. I have been given receipt and fingerprints done. Im not in removal proceedings. My clock is already 180 days plus . Can i go ahead apply ead. Will uscis deny my ead as a matter of discretion due to past fraud and misrepresentation. Or asylum based eads are not discretionary. I heard in 2022 in a court case uscis stopped applying trump era rules . In which one rule was asylum pending eads are not discretionary anymore.
Also overall will this affect my asylum when uscis conducts my interview .
Have you seen eads based on asylum c(8) being denied as discretion or other reasons besides aggravated felony or clock or filing issues.
I have not seen a c-8 EAD denied as a matter of discretion and I doubt that would happen. In any event, the first EAD is free, and so you might as well apply. I do think the fraud could be a factor in the asylum case and you should be prepared to explain what happened and present evidence about that, if you have any. Take care, Jason
Thanks for the piece. Very interesting and telling. I applied my case in LA in 2015 and i am yet to be interviewed. LA is the most backlogged asylum office. I reached out to a firm that does mandamus and they informed me that with LA, if they file a suit, it would take 9 to 12 months to be scheduled. However if i could transfer the case to SF they would schedule in 4 months. I reached out to my congressman’s office and they informed that LA is no longer scheduling interviews due to the backlog.
LA has long been a problem office. They used to have the longest wait times of any office, then they improved, but it seems like they are not doing well now. I had heard that they have a long wait even for mandamus interviews (though I had heard a few years, so your information is less bad). If you want your case interviewed in SF, you have to live in an area covered by that office. If you follow the link under Resources called Asylum Office Locator, you can enter different zip codes to see which office will interview someone living in that zip code. Take care, Jason
Hello sir, i moved my case from la asylum office to ny asylum office due to me moving to new york. I filed in 2023 January. I have a 2 years work permit which i ll renew soon for 5 year work permit but no interview. I have moved to ny. So i. Changed address on online. I think it automatically changed my asylum case to ny. You have any information is ny asylum office scheduling interviews or no.
Also can i get straight to immigration court without asylum office interview. I heard that way its faster to get asylum granted. Any way i can ask uscis to send me straight to removal without interview in-front of judge
There is no schedule published for any asylum office. The NY office is not a good office – I last wrote about that on December 6, 2023. I do not know any certain and safe way to get to court, but one possibility would be to withdraw your asylum case if you have no other status. If the case is successfully withdrawn, and you have no status, you may get referred to court. Whether that is a good idea or will create other issues (such as a one-year bar issue when you re-file), I am not sure and I think you should talk this through with a lawyer before you try it. Take care, Jason