If you are an asylum seeker in Florida, contact our immigration law firm at the Law Offices of Robert M. Bell, P.A. Filing your asylum application on Form I-589 correctly with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) department is essential for your continued stay in the U.S. Call us today at 954-241-4209 for help filing your Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal.
Who Qualifies for Asylum?
Asylum protects certain individuals who are at risk of harm if they were to return to their home country.
To be eligible for asylum protection, you must demonstrate that you have a credible fear of persecution in your home country based on a protected ground. These include:
- National origin
- Race
- Religion
- Political opinion
- Membership in a particular social group
Asylum applicants are not required to prove why the persecution occurred in the past or is likely to occur in the future. However, they must produce evidence from which it is reasonable to believe that the harm was motivated, at least in part, by an actual or imputed protected ground.
If you seek protection based on your membership in a particular social group, it is essential that you seek an experienced immigration attorney who can help you carefully craft your asylum claim so that it maximizes your likelihood of success. The Board of Immigration Appeals has recognized several defined groups, including, among others:
- Married women from a particular country who are unable to leave their relationships;
- Certain individuals who opposed state corruption, where such opposition constitutes the expression or their political opinion;
- Victims of violence or persecution due to HIV/AIDS status;
- Membership in a clan, which shares ties of kinship and linguistic commonalities, and/or
- Potential victims of female genital mutilation or forced sterilization.
The Asylum Process
Asylum protects certain individuals who may be at risk if they return to their home country by granting safe haven to asylum seekers in the U.S. Depending on whether you have received notice of removal proceedings, you may need to file your Asylum I-589 form using a different process, including:
- Affirmative asylum. You have not received a notice of removal or deportation and are proactively applying for asylum.
- Defensive asylum. The USCIS has begun deportation proceedings against you, and you are filing for defensive asylum for withholding of removal.
If you live in Florida and want to file an affirmative asylum application, send a completed Asylum I-589 form and supporting documents to the Texas Service Center at Attn: Asylum P.O. Box 851892, Mesquite, TX 75185-1892.
Because the USCIS receives so many asylum applications each year, be sure to contact a knowledgeable immigration attorney at our firm to help you complete your form accurately and gather the necessary supporting documents for your application.
In general, you must submit your form within one year of arriving in the U.S. After submitting your application, the USCIS will send you a notice for a biometrics appointment for digital fingerprinting.
In the case of an affirmative asylum application, you will need to attend an asylum interview, upon which USCIS will determine if you qualify for asylum or will refer your case to an immigration court with jurisdiction over your address to review their decision.
If you file for defensive asylum after receiving notice of removal proceedings, you must file your I-589 with the immigration court managing your case.
Contact a Florida Immigration Attorney To Start Your Asylum I-589 Form
At the Law Offices of Robert M. Bell, P.A., we offer multi-lingual immigration and asylum services in Spanish and English, French and Portuguese to help people who seek protection from persecution in their home countries. Call us today at 954-241-4209 or contact us online to schedule a consultation regarding your Form I-589 Asylum Application.
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