Eligibility Criteria for Asylum or Refugee Protection in U.S. immigration?

Assume you’re from a country where you’ve been persecuted. In that circumstance, you may apply for refugee status in the United States (if you are currently outside the country) or asylum (if you are currently in the United States). The standards for these safeguards, on the other hand, are stricter than you may assume. You’ll need to familiarize yourself with the legal grounds for asylum and refugee status and maybe compile significant paperwork to demonstrate that you fit these requirements.

Primary Grounds for Asylum or Refugee Status

You must prove that you fulfill the definition of a refugee to be eligible for asylum or refugee status under U.S. law. It means that you have been the victim of persecution in the past or you have a well-founded fear of persecution in the future. You must demonstrate that you were persecuted in your native country or previous residence.

At least one of the following five reasons must have been used to persecute you:

  • Nationality
  • Membership in a particular social group
  • race
  • political opinion
  • Religion

Proving the link between persecution and one of these five reasons is one of the most challenging aspects of obtaining asylum or refugee status. You must demonstrate that one of the five grounds was a “central factor” for your persecution. If you need a professional citizenship lawyer for a free consultation for such complex procedures, get in touch with us.

Is there a place for “gender” in these five categories? People have been granted refuge after being subjected to cultural practices such as forced marriage, domestic violence, and more, notably when the police and government failed to protect the victims or prosecute the perpetrators.

 What Is Persecution?

Except for one component of the refugee category, which states that it includes those subjected to or risk being subjected to a “coercive population control scheme,” U.S. immigration law does not clearly define categories of persecution. Forced abortion and sterilization, for example, were implemented in 1996 and targeted exclusively at mainland China).

Only a tiny percentage of the numerous persons who ask for asylum fall into this category. Persecution is described as the infliction of pain or harm and substantial danger to one’s life or liberty. Harassment is insufficient on its own. Death threats, torture, imprisonment, continual surveillance, pressure to join a criminal gang, interference with your privacy, family, home, or communication, or discrimination in housing, education, or passport issuance have all been determined to qualify.

Let’s pretend you’ve never been persecuted before. If you have a genuine fear of future persecution in your home country or last country of residence, you may still be eligible for political asylum or refugee status.

The immigration process can be exhausting and complicated sometimes; you wouldn’t want to commit any omission, canceling your entire application. Feel free to contact us if scouting for free consultation immigration lawyer online.

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