Asylum is the protection that immigrants are given by a nation when a person cannot return to their home country because of the danger of persecution. A person is permitted to seek asylum in the United States whether or not he or she is here legally. If their application is not honored, then applicants can go to an immigration court. This normally happens if you are in the United States illegally. At your court hearing, you will need to prove that you deserve asylum to the judge and jury. Whenever you are given an immigration court referral, it is not a denial of your application. It simply means that the USCIS wants more information before granting your asylum.

Normally, if the USCIS decides to refer your asylum request you will be sent a letter of explanation and a Form I-862 which you will need to fill out. You will also receive your Notice to Appear, and a date of time to come to the court. You won’t need to re-file your Asylum application for any reason. If the court deems that you have good reason to be given asylum then you will be granted it in court at this time. You may need an immigration lawyer on your side in court to help prove that you deserve the asylum protections. One you head to court on a referral, it is up to the immigration judge to make a decision that will determine your asylum permissions.

There are also times that you will be given a recommended approval from the USCIS. This means that you have not been given permission because the security checks that are required have not been completed yet. However, the USCIS has noted your application and determined that you are eligible to receive asylum as long as your security checks come through clean. A grant of asylum occurs when the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services determines that you are eligible for asylum in the U.S.

In this case, the person who is seeking refuge will receive a letter and a completed Form I-94 Arrival Departure Record. This grant will include your spouse and children, if applicable. Your family will only be included if they are also in the United States, or if they were included in your application. You will also need to establish a qualifying relationship to them by presenting some sort of proof. This is to ensure that people won’t pretend that they are married to obtain asylum or protect people that they are not technically related to.

Once you have been issued a Grant of Asylum, you have the right to apply for an Employment Authorization Document, a Social Security card, a green card, and immigration benefits for your spouse and children. While a Grant of Asylum in the United States doesn’t ever expire. Yet the USCIS can terminate your status if they determine that you no longer have a threat of persecution because of a change in circumstances, or that you have obtained protection from another country. You can also lose your grant of asylum if it is proven that your asylum was granted through some sort fraud, or if you committed a crime of some sort.

There are also unfortunate cases where an applicant may be denied a grant of asylum. In this case, you would receive a notice of intent to deny in the mail. Upon receiving this notice, you have 16 days to write a letter explaining why you should receive asylum. If your response is received within the allotted amount of time an asylum officer may reconsider the response and make a final decision. If you do not obtain asylum, you will need to return to your country when your visa expires. Talk to an immigration attorney if you have more questions about seeking this protection in the U.S.