Practice Areas
Asylum Applications
Under the 1980 Act, a refugee was defined as "any person who is outside of any country of such person's nationality . . . who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion."
Both refugees and asylees must satisfy this definition. Indeed, in almost every way, the requirements for refugee status and asylum are the same. The most important difference is that an asylee makes their asylum application while in the US, while the refugee applies outside of their home country, but also outside of the US.
There are five grounds for asylum status and refugee status: race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Asylum applications must be filed within 1 year of the date of entry into the United States absent changed country conditions.
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