I 589 Instructions: Fill & Download for Free

“Can someone claim asylum (become a refugee) to UN after burning a religious site down in a Muslim country?”Based on the following excerpt from Instructions for for I-589 in the US:II. Basis of EligibilityA. AsylumIn order to qualify for asylum, you must establish that you area refugee who is unable or unwilling to return to his or hercountry of nationality, or last habitual residence in the case ofa person having no nationality, because of persecution or awell-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion,nationality, membership in a particular social group, orpolitical opinion. This means that you must establish thatrace, religion, nationality, membership in a particular socialgroup, or political opinion was or will be at least one centralreason for your persecution or why you fear persecution. (Seesection 208 of the INA; 8 CFR sections 208 and 1208, et seq.)It does not seem that refugee/asylum status will apply to someone trying to hide from a criminal act and fear of an “unfair punishment”. Disagreeing with the punishment does not make it unfair.I am not a lawyer and this is just my opinion.-Doug

In the last 15 years, United States has taken in more refugees than anywhere else in the world. A fraction of those refugees, asylum seekers have grown in recent years to the point of overwhelming the current system and now the country is at a tipping point.The legal definition of a refugee is someone who is not able to live safely in their home country or has a really strong reason to fear that they won’t be safe if they stay. Persecution that is racial, religious, political or national or targeting what is called a particular social group. An Asylee is at refugee. It’s just that they have already arrived at another country like United States and feast going home. Here’s how it works:Asylum seekers must fill out the I-589 application, a 12 pageform. If that sounds complicated for someone fleeing an oppressive homeland, don’t worry there is a 14 page instruction booklet to help. Both form and instructions are available only in English. And the I-589 application has to be filled out in English, otherwise it will get sent back. If someone enters the United States without papers they can’t even file an asylum application until they convince the government in person that they are in danger at home. This is called credible fear. They detained and given at least 48 hours before their credible fear interview, but Asylees often must wait much longer. If the fear is not deemed credible an asylum seeker can be deported pretty much immediately unless they file an appeal. If the fear is deemed credible or the appeal is successful they wait for a judge to review their application. An asylee might have a judge sympathetic to their case or one with a stricter view. They might end up waiting comfortably with a family or they may be in a detention center. And in spring 2018, they could even have been separated from their children, under Trump administration policies. Chine has historically had the most applications for asylum to the United States and that hasn’t changed. But applications from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras have increased 234%in the past 3 years its more applications in they time period than the previous 17 years combined. This area is called northern triangle. Civil wars and political unrest from the 1950s through the 1980s left institutions unstable. Violence, extreme poverty and crime stemming from drug and gang activity is widespread. Asylees fleeing this area aren’t responsible for the danger they live in, they’re are trying to escape it. So, whether they qualify for asylum is up to interpretation by immigration judges. And all of this is being debated while the current system is straining just to keep up. The backlog of asylum case holds has surged since 2012. And immigrant ion attorneys have cited waits as long as 5 years.The Trump administration thinks that the solution here is to make it harder to even pass the initial screening interview. If think of the asylum system as a multi stage process which it is that starts with asking for and getting a credible fear interview and ends with finally getting asylum, people are falling off at every stage of that process. Very few people who start by asking for credible fear screenings in the United States are ultimately getting their asylum claims approved at the end. They essentially may be deprived of during the process in trying to get asylum and so people who do have legitimate persecution claims are going to sent back which theoretically is exactly the outcome that this entire system is set up to prevent.

There is NO FEE for applying for Asylum in the United States. The form for this is I-589 and you can find instructions to fill this out online.You may have a lawyer represent you in this process. Here there are many lawyers that handle cases PRO BONO (without charge). Others may charge a fee.Once you applied for Asylum you cannot return to your old country for at least a year (otherwise you didn’t need asylum from that country!)Given the complexities in applying for asylum it may be to your advantage. As for fees there are many variables such experience. i would look at more than one lawyer if you go that route. If you know any lawyers ask if they know anyone who may specialize in that area of law.Lawyers specialize in certain kinds of law. This is because there are so many laws and to be good requires knowledge of a body of law in a small area.You may get some good advice from nolo.com