Immigration Attorney Gregory P. Sheehan can assist you toward getting your aslyum status and then getting a Green Card for your family based on asylum status. Contact us today for a free consultation.
How can asylum seekers get asylum status?
Asylum status is granted to asylum seekers who can establish that race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion will be at least one cause of persecution, or fear of persecution if the asylum seeker were forced to return to their home country. An asylum-seeking refugee can get “derivative” asylum status for their family members, meaning that their spouse and children can also receive asylum status.
What is the procedure to get a Green Card with asylum status?
One year after being granted asylum status by USCIS, an asylum seeker and their their immediate family who have derivative asylum status will become eligible to apply for permanent resident status, or green card status.
An important note is that asylum status inherently lifts your removability, so an asylee with asylum status can stay in the United States as long as the conditions in their home country remain a threat to them and their family.
USCIS recommends that to secure Permanent Resident Status as soon as possible because when home conditions change, meaning that they no longer justify the protection of aslyum, then asylum status could be removed making the alien and their family removable. Be sure to consult an Immigration Attorney to see if you qualify and what you need to do to satisfy your application requirements.
What are the eligibility requirements to qualify for a Green Card?
Physical presence in the United States for 1 year after being granted asylum is required.
The asylum seeker must continue to meet the definition of a refugee.
The asylum seeker must continue to be admissible in the United States (note that a waiver of inadmissibility may be available).
Which forms are required?
I-485 is the form that asks USCIS to adjust status from Asylee to Permanent Resident Alien, or Green Card status. This should be completed for the asylum seeker as well as the immediate family members of the asylum seeker who want a Green Card.
Additional forms need to also be completed, and the entire application, the I-485 and the additional forms, is known as the I-485 application packet.
I-693, Report of Medical Exam and Vaccination Record
I-602, Application by Refugee for Waiver of Grounds of Excludability
HIV waiver supplement (if necessary)
Proof of asylum status or derivative asylum status
G-325A, Biographic Information Sheet, if you are between 14 and 79 years of age
Two passport-style photos
Family members with derivative asylum status who don’t meet the definition of child or spouse as required by the permanent resident procedures can file form I-589 (nunc pro tunc asylum).
