I recently prepared an asylum case for a married lesbian woman. The case was complicated by the fact that my client had multiple nationalities, and I was concerned about one country where she held citizenship, and where conditions were less bad for LGBT people (at least when compared with her other countries of nationality). My focus was on gathering evidence about country conditions to support her claim, and I forgot to look at another key aspect of the case–my client’s wife had a pending asylum application of her own.
As these things often go, I was reviewing the case prior to the Immigration Court hearing when I noticed the issue. I spoke to my client and learned that the wife’s case included information that would have been helpful for my client’s case. So now I had a dilemma: Should we amend our case at the last minute and risk harming my client’s credibility (when she tried to explain the change) or say nothing and forgo the opportunity to include helpful evidence? (more…)
It’s nearly impossible to win an asylum case if the Asylum Officer or Immigration Judge does not believe your story. But how do decision-makers determine whether an applicant is telling the truth or lying? In other words, how do they decide whether the applicant is credible?
There are a number of methods to evaluate credibility: Whether the applicant’s story is plausible (i.e., whether it makes sense in the context of country conditions), whether the person can describe details that we would expect her to know (for example, if she was a political activists, she should know something about her political party), and whether the applicant’s statement is consistent with the other evidence and testimony in the case. Today, I want to discuss “consistency,” since inconsistent statements are probably the most common basis for concluding that an applicant is not credible. (more…)
These days, I don’t like to criticize you. I know that you’re under a lot of pressure from the political higher-ups who hate the whole “asylum thing.” But let’s face it–your website stinks. Fortunately, help is at hand. I’ve taken the liberty of creating a new website, which will benefit not only beleaguered asylum seekers, but also the hardworking folks at the various Asylum Offices.
And yes, I know that the Asylum Division is in the process of redesigning its online presence. It is now possible to get some basic information about an asylum case–including how many days have elapsed on the Asylum Clock–by entering the receipt number into the USCIS website (the receipt number is listed on the asylum receipt and starts with the letter Z).
Also, it should soon be possible to obtain an Info Pass appointment at the local asylum offices. If this system works, it will be better than what we have now (show up and hope for the best). But I’m worried that the asylum Info Pass will be as problematic as the current USCIS Info Pass system–these days, it’s easier to score Hamilton tickets than to get a USCIS Info Pass appointment.
Rumor has it that the Asylum Division is powered by a C-64.
That’s the (more or less) good news. The bad news is that the Asylum Office Locator has been changed as well, and it’s less useful now than it was before. The page still contains the addresses and office hours of the local asylum offices, and where to mail an initial I-589 (which varies depending where in the U.S. you live). But other contact information–email addresses and phone numbers–that appeared in the previous iteration of the website is now absent.
I get it–the Asylum Offices want to save time by preventing people from calling or emailing (I want to do this too), but now the only way to communicate with them is to go in person (difficult, especially for people who live far from the office) or send a letter (yes, a letter, like snail mail). The old email addresses still work, and I imagine the phone numbers do to (I haven’t tried to call the Asylum Office main number in years, as they rarely answer), but if you don’t have that information already, you’re basically out of luck.
All these changes are a mixed bag, but more can be done. The main problem with the current situation is the lack of available information. This is bad for asylum seekers, who are left in the dark, but it’s also bad for the Asylum Office staff, who have to respond to repeated requests for general information (which perhaps explains why certain contact information was removed from the website). My theory is this: If the website answered more questions, asylum seekers would be more informed, less stressed out, and less likely to contact the Asylum Office for help. This is what we in the business call a win-win.
So I’ve designed a new website for you. It’s attached below as a PDF. There are two parts–the Main Asylum Office Webpage and the Local Asylum Office Webpage. I’ve written it in outline format because I thought that would be easier to understand. Also, for the life of me, I can’t figure out how to make a flow chart (sad, as I was once fluent in Fortran).
The main page is designed to tell asylum seekers how to file, and to explain the process. It also provides links to help people find information they need, and answers some common questions. The local page provides specific information about a person’s local asylum office, including instructions for filing evidence, and information about expediting and short listing a case. If this information is available in multiple languages, that would also be a plus.
To be sure, my design, while quite lovely, is pretty basic and needs some work, but the main point is this–The Asylum Division should have a website that better serves asylum seekers. So, my friends at the Asylum Division, I proudly present you with your new Asylum Division Website Outline! I assume it will be up and running shortly.
If you asked my clients their number one complaint about me, it’s that they think I take too long to prepare and file their affirmative asylum cases. Conversely, if you asked me my number one complaint about my clients, it’s that they are always pushing me to file their cases as quickly as possible. Since this blog is written by me, and not by my clients, I can tell you unequivocally that I am right and they are wrong. Here’s why–
Going fast does not always get you the result you want.
First and foremost, it takes time to properly prepare and file an asylum case. Even in a very strong case–and especially in a case with a lot of evidence–it is important to make sure that all the letters and documents are consistent. That translations are correct. That dates, which often use a different calendar, are properly converted to the Western calendar. That the dates in the asylum form match the dates in the affidavit, and that passports, visas, and other documents make sense with the client’s chronology as she remembers it. You would be surprised how often there are problems with dates, chronologies, and translations. In fact, it is the rare case that does not involve my staff or me finding major mistakes in the documents. While this is usually the result of carelessness on the part of the client or a witness, such errors can be fatal to an asylum case, where inconsistencies are often seen as evidence of fraud. There is simply no way around it, it takes time to review all this and put together a consistent and well-crafted application.
Second, any asylum attorney who is any good will probably be busy, especially if his prices are reasonable. Indeed, the only way to keep prices reasonable is to do these cases in bulk. Therefore, if you expect to pay a reasonable price for your case, you can probably expect to wait a bit to have it filed. In our office, it typically takes one to two months to prepare and file an affirmative asylum case. Although the cases do not need to be completely finished when we file (because we can submit supplemental material a week prior to the interview), they need to be mostly done. Why? Because the timing of interviews is unpredictable. The interview may not occur for two months (or more) after we file the application, but it might occur in four weeks. So if the case is not near completion at the time we file, we may not have time to properly finish it and review everything before the interview.
Finally, attorneys–you may be shocked to learn–are human. And humans make mistakes. When we rush, we tend to make more mistakes, and mistakes sometimes cause clients to lose their cases. When we have time to prepare a case, think about the facts and the law, strategize about how to resolve problems (and most cases have problems of one sort or another), research country conditions, and carefully review all the evidence, we minimize the chances for mistakes and maximize the odds of winning.
There are, of course, very legitimate reasons for wanting to file a case quickly–separation from family, stress, uncertainty, fear of being out of status, inability to work. Probably the most legitimate reason to file quickly is to meet the one-year asylum filing deadline (asylum applicants are required to file for asylum within one year of arrival in the United States; people who file after one year risk being ineligible for asylum). But as long as there is not a one-year issue, it is far better to take a few extra weeks to file a case correctly than to rush. In my humble (and correct) opinion, if you prioritize speed over winning, you are misplacing your priorities. If you lose your case, it will likely be referred to an Immigration Judge, which can easily take several years to resolve.
So take a breath. Relax. And take the time to do your case right. Going a bit slower at the beginning may save you a lot of time in the end.
