Asylum law in plain English

A

Adjustment of status (asylee)

Applying for a green card from inside the United States. An asylee can apply after one year of physical presence in the United States.

INA 209(b) · Read more

Affirmative asylum

Asking for asylum on your own, by filing Form I-589 with USCIS when you are not in immigration court.

INA 208 · Read more

Annual Asylum Fee

A yearly fee for as long as an I-589 is pending: $105 for USCIS filings postmarked on or after October 16, 2026 ($102 before). Only the principal applicant pays it. It does not apply to withholding or CAT.

91 FR 62540; Matter of L-F-R- · Read more

Asylum

Protection for a person who meets the refugee definition. It is discretionary, can cover your spouse and children, and leads to a green card.

INA 208; INA 101(a)(42) · Read more

Asylum officer

A USCIS official who decides affirmative asylum applications. Since July 28, 2026 an officer can refer an application to immigration court without an interview.

91 FR 47101 · Read more

B

Bars to asylum

Rules that stop an asylum claim regardless of the facts, such as the one-year deadline, the persecutor bar, a particularly serious crime or firm resettlement.

INA 208(a)(2), (b)(2) · Read more

BIA (Board of Immigration Appeals)

The appeals body for immigration judge decisions. An appeal must be received within 30 calendar days of the decision.

8 C.F.R. 1003.38 · Read more

C

CAT (Convention Against Torture)

Protection from removal to a country where you are more likely than not to be tortured, by or with the acquiescence of officials. It is a separate form of protection from asylum.

8 C.F.R. 208.16 to 208.18 · Read more

CAT deferral

A weaker form of CAT protection. It stops removal to that country but gives no lawful status and can be ended.

8 C.F.R. 208.17 · Read more

Change of venue

Moving your case to a different immigration court. Only the judge can grant it, only for good cause, and you must keep attending your current court until it is granted.

8 C.F.R. 1003.20 · Read more

Changed circumstances

One of the two exceptions to the one-year deadline: something changed in your country or your own situation. You must then file within a reasonable period.

8 C.F.R. 208.4(a)(4) · Read more

Corroboration

Evidence that backs up your testimony. If the judge decides you should provide it, you must, unless you do not have it and cannot reasonably get it.

INA 208(b)(1)(B)(ii) · Read more

Credibility

Whether the judge believes you. The judge looks at the whole record, and can rely on an inconsistency even if it does not go to the heart of your claim.

INA 208(b)(1)(B)(iii) · Read more

Credible fear interview

A screening interview for people in expedited removal who say they fear return. Passing it lets the asylum claim go forward.

8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)(B); 8 C.F.R. 208.30 · Read more

D

Defensive asylum

Asking for asylum in immigration court, as a defense to removal.

8 C.F.R. 1003.14 · Read more

Derivative

A spouse or child included in a principal applicant's asylum case. A child counts if under 21 on the date the parent applied.

INA 208(b)(3) · Read more

E

EAD (work permit)

Employment Authorization Document. Asylum applicants may apply 150 days after a complete I-589 is received; it cannot be granted before 180 days.

8 C.F.R. 208.7; INA 208(d)(2) · Read more

ECAS

EOIR's electronic filing system. Lawyers must file through it in eligible cases.

8 C.F.R. 1003.31 · Read more

EOIR

Executive Office for Immigration Review: the immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals, part of the Department of Justice.

8 C.F.R. part 1003 · Read more

EOIR-26

The Notice of Appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The fee is $1,060 for appeals filed on or after October 1, 2026, or you can ask for a fee waiver on Form EOIR-26A.

91 FR 54211; 8 C.F.R. 1003.38(d) · Read more

EOIR-28

The form a lawyer files to appear for you in immigration court.

ICPM ch. 2.1 · Read more

EOIR-33

The change-of-address form for immigration court. File it within five days of any move.

8 C.F.R. 1003.15(d) · Read more

Extraordinary circumstances

The second exception to the one-year deadline: events such as serious illness or a lawyer's ineffective help that kept you from filing on time.

8 C.F.R. 208.4(a)(5) · Read more

F

Firm resettlement

A statutory bar to asylum for a person who was firmly resettled in another country before arriving in the United States. Whether it applies depends closely on the facts.

INA 208(b)(2)(A)(vi) · Read more

H

Humanitarian asylum

Asylum granted because past persecution was so severe, or because you face other serious harm, even if the danger has passed.

8 C.F.R. 208.13(b)(1)(iii) · Read more

I

I-589

The application for asylum and for withholding of removal. It costs $100 for the principal applicant, and an incomplete one is rejected and loses its filing date.

8 C.F.R. 208.3; 90 FR 52693 · Read more

I-730

The petition an asylee files to bring a spouse or child who is abroad. There is no fee.

8 C.F.R. 208.21 · Read more

I-765 (c)(8)

The work permit application for asylum applicants. The initial application costs $570 for filings postmarked on or after October 16, 2026; renewals cost $275 plus a base fee.

91 FR 62540 · Read more

Immigration judge

The judge who hears removal cases and decides asylum claims made in immigration court.

8 C.F.R. 1003.14 · Read more

In absentia order

A removal order issued because you did not come to your hearing. It can be reopened within 180 days for exceptional circumstances, or at any time for lack of notice.

INA 240(b)(5) · Read more

Individual (merits) hearing

The trial in your immigration court case, where you testify under oath and the judge decides your claim.

ICPM ch. 3.15 · Read more

Internal relocation

Whether you could safely and reasonably move to another part of your country. Who must prove it depends on who the persecutor is and whether you were persecuted before.

8 C.F.R. 208.13(b)(3) · Read more

M

Master calendar hearing

A short hearing, usually your first, where the judge takes pleadings, asks what relief you seek and sets dates.

ICPM ch. 3.14 · Read more

Motion to reconsider

Asking the same court or the Board to look again at its decision. Generally one motion, within 30 days.

INA 240(c)(6) · Read more

Motion to reopen

Asking to reopen a closed case because of new facts. Generally one motion, within 90 days, counted across the court and the Board together.

INA 240(c)(7); Matter of M-M-L-J- · Read more

N

Nexus

The link between the harm and a protected ground. The ground must be at least one central reason for the persecution.

INA 208(b)(1)(B)(i) · Read more

Notice to Appear (NTA)

The paper that starts a removal case in immigration court. It must state the charges and the time and place of the hearing.

INA 239(a)(1) · Read more

O

One-year deadline

Asylum must generally be filed within one year of your last arrival, proven by clear and convincing evidence, unless an exception applies.

INA 208(a)(2)(B) · Read more

P

Particular social group

One of the five protected grounds. Recent decisions measure whether society sees the group as distinct countrywide, and reject groups defined only by the harm.

Matter of S-E-M-Z-; Matter of V-A-B- · Read more

Particularly serious crime

A conviction for a particularly serious crime is one of the statutory bars to asylum.

INA 208(b)(2)(A)(ii) · Read more

Past persecution

Harm you already suffered on account of a protected ground. Proving it creates a presumption that you fear future persecution.

8 C.F.R. 208.13(b)(1) · Read more

Persecutor bar

A bar to asylum for anyone who took part in persecuting others. There is no exception for acting under duress.

INA 208(b)(2)(A)(i); Matter of Negusie · Read more

Petition for review

An appeal from the Board of Immigration Appeals to a federal court of appeals. It must be filed within 30 days of the final order of removal.

INA 242(b)(1) · Read more

R

Reasonable fear interview

A separate fear screening with its own rules. Which screening applies, credible fear or reasonable fear, depends on your immigration history.

8 C.F.R. 208.31 · Read more

Referral

When an asylum officer sends an affirmative application to immigration court. You then become a respondent in removal proceedings.

91 FR 47101 · Read more

S

Stay of removal

An order that stops removal while a case is decided. Filing a petition for review does not stop removal by itself.

Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418 (2009) · Read more

Stop-time rule

A rule that stops the clock on time spent in the United States for some forms of relief. A Notice to Appear without the time and place does not trigger it.

Pereira v. Sessions; Niz-Chavez v. Garland · Read more

Substantial evidence

The standard a court of appeals uses to review the facts. It reverses only if the record compels the opposite answer.

8 U.S.C. 1252(b)(4)(B); Urias-Orellana v. Bondi · Read more

W

Well-founded fear

The asylum standard for future harm: a reasonable possibility of persecution if you are returned. It is lower than the withholding standard.

8 C.F.R. 208.13(b)(2); INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca · Read more

Withholding of removal

Protection from removal to a country where your life or freedom is more likely than not threatened on a protected ground. The law says the government may not remove you there if you qualify, and it applies country by country.

INA 241(b)(3) · Read more