Can I Still Apply for Asylum After the One-Year Filing Deadline?
Can I Still Apply for Asylum After the One-Year Filing Deadline?
If you are applying for Asylum in the United States, you should file your application within the first year of your arrival to the United States meanwhile those who have entered the U.S. with a non-immigrant visa, that one year starts counting down from your visa’s expiration date.
If you fail to submit your application within the specific deadline, The asylum officer dealing with your case will refer you to an immigration judge. If you are applying for a defensive asylum, in which case you are already in removal proceedings or have been referred to an immigration judge, the “One-Year-Rule” also applies for you.
If you haven’t, however, filed your application within the required date, you need a valid exception:
The Changed Circumstance exception
You must prove that the change in your circumstances (private life, situation in the United States or home country) was material to your asylum eligibility and that you filed your asylum application within a reasonable time after the circumstances occurred.
Some examples of Changed Circumstances would be:
- You weren’t afraid to return to your home country when you first came to the US, but a situation occurred (for example regime changes) in your country which would result in your prosecution. You were made aware of the situation after one year from your arrival.
- Your current involvement in a group in the U.S. would result in your persecution if you were to return to your country.
- Your activities in the U.S. would result in your persecution if you were to return to your country
- You had an ongoing relationship with a primary asylum applicant, but your relationship having ended (death or marriage, for example), you have to apply on your own.
- The change of U.S. laws that change your eligibility to apply for asylum
- A dependent reaching the age of 21
The Extraordinary Circumstance exception
You must demonstrate that events in your personal life are directly related to your failure to file inside the one-year submission deadline, and that you filed within a reasonable time period after the extraordinary circumstance no longer affects you. You must also prove that you did not purposefully create an extraordinary circumstance, the circumstance directly relates to your failure to file your application on time, and your application delay was reasonable based on your circumstance.
Some Examples of Extraordinary Circumstances would be:
- Although you filed within one year, your initial application was rejected or returned for corrections, now you are filing again
- Any personal factors that came to such an extreme extent that you were unable to apply for asylum
- You suffered an illness, had a mental or physical disability or mental impairment that kept you from filing your application on time
- You were legally disabled or incompetent
- You received ineffective assistance of counsel
- You had “Temporary Protected Status until a reasonable amount of time
- You had a lawful immigrant or non-immigrant status until a reasonable amount of time
- You were given parole until a reasonable amount of time
- Your attorney, or immediate family member passed away or suffered a serious injury
How long is the Reasonable Time?
You have to prove your application was filed within a reasonable time if you are filing after the one year deadline.
The reasonable time period will change from case to case, as each case has their own unique factors. When deciding whether the application was submitted within a reasonable amount of time, a number of factors may be taken into account, including the applicant’s education level, the severity of their condition, and the moment at which they became aware of the changing circumstances.
For instance, if one just realized they would be prosecuted if they return to their country from the U.S, but didn’t think to apply for asylum immediately, instead, waited a year to think on it, and then applied, this application, unless any extraordinary or changed circumstances apply for the one year thinking time, will be rejected as the application was not filed within a reasonable time.