Immigration Attorney Asylum Orlando

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

The above quote has been inscribed on the base of the statue of liberty. It is a beacon of hope to the people who escape the most wretched conditions in their home countries and make a beeline to the US.

Over the years, the sheer number of people who are now trying to seek asylum and thus immigrate to the land of their dreams has increased manifold. This has a lot to do with the state of the world as it exists today. The Syrian war and the general turmoil in the middle east have forced many people to flee from the land of their birth. They have been forced to find a safe harbor for their families who have been cast adrift in a sea of trouble, through no fault of their own.

Call us at 407-910-4770 or email us at [email protected]  for any immigration needs you may have.

Many people try to secure asylum in the US because it is not just a panacea for all of their woes but also due to the fact that it is the land of the ‘free and the brave.’

For a family seeking to escape relentless tribulations, the very idea of a country where they would be able to both practice and celebrate their religion,their culture and their race without fear of prosecution is a dream come true. Like everyone else, asylum seekers also want to live a life without fear of discrimination or racism. This way, they too will be able to live the quintessential ‘American Dream”. 

But there is however a cravat here. Not every asylum seeker who makes it to our shores can be accommodated by the country. This is largely because U.S. immigration laws regarding asylum tend to be very complicated. There is considerable confusion as to what an asylum seeker has to do in order to qualify for immigration to the US as a permanent legal resident. For this purpose, a body of laws and regulations has been created by the federal government. This is known as the ‘the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA).

It currently governs all immigration policies including the rights of the asylum seekers who are already on US soil. Any immigration attorney Asylum Orlando worth his salt should have his finger on the pulse of the rapidly changing legal and political climate that affects a potential asylum seeker’s bid to immigrate to the US.

Such a lawyer will be able to give accurate information regarding the myriad different legal variations and bylaws regarding immigration to the US.  This holds particularly for all federal policies that have been drafted to regulate the flow of asylum seekers to the US.

• Initiating the Asylum Process with the Help of an Immigration Attorney

Any foreign national who actively seeks asylum in the US may do so either affirmatively or defensively.

• Affirmative Asylum Application

There are various terms and conditions that a prospective asylum seeker has to meet, before he may be considered to be eligible for immigration to the US. These include the following:

• The affirmative asylum seeker has to be physically present in United States territory before he can apply for asylum via his immigration attorney Asylum Orlando.
• As a matter of fact, such an individual should apply for asylum within 364 days of his arrival on US soil.
• He may not have the relevant paperwork (undocumented alien),  or he may be living in the United States on expired documents
• He might have entered the U.S. on a valid visa but the visa is going to expire soon

The USCIS (the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services)is the federal agency that has been tasked with affirmative asylum claims. Their asylum officersconduct non-adversarial interviews with prospective asylum seekers at any 1 of 8 offices that are scattered all over the nation. If you have been called for such an interview you would be well within your rights to bring with you a well-experienced immigration attorney asylum Orlando

• The I-589 application form

You will be able to request asylum by completing the I-589 Application. This is a detailed form that specifically asks certain personal information about you and your family. It asks you the reason for seeking asylum and also if you have ever experienced any sort of “harm or threats or mistreatment, in your native land.

It will also ask you if you actively “fear harm or mistreatment,” if you are forced to return to your country of origin.  Finally, there is a segment that asks you if you will have to face imprisonment, torture or detention in your country of origin or any other country.

If you were to answer these questions to the satisfaction of the asylum officer, then you will be able to showthat you should not be barred from asylum for any of the above reasons in line with the nation’s immigration laws.

After the interview and a cursory perusal of your application, the asylum officer will be in a position to either grant you that coveted asylum status or alternately refer you to an immigration court. If he opts for the latter alternative, then there is an off chance that court will sanction removal proceedings against you. However, it is not the end of the road and a good immigration attorney asylum Orlando will be able to contest your case and change the immigration court judge’s mind regarding your removal from US soil.

• Defensive Asylum Application

A defensive asylum application is markedly different from an affirmative one. In this case, any person who has been apprehended ‘after’ entering the United States illegally, applies for asylum under the threat of summaryremoval by the DHS(Department of Homeland Security).

In the above scenario, the applicant is already subjected to removal proceedings against his stay in the US. He can, however, put a temporary stop to these proceedings with the help of a duly qualified immigration attorney asylum Orlando. While his application status will remain the same, but the erstwhile asylum seeker has to file his application once again.

However, he will do so, with the specific immigration court that has jurisdiction over his case. Here, he will have to prove to the court that he will be subjected to severe prosecution if he were forced to go back home. The immigration attorney asylum Orlando will be able to do the needful and secure an extension, at the very least

• What Do You Have to Prove in Order to Secure a Successful Application?

To be given asylum as a refugee you will have to prove the following without any reasonable doubt to the court of law:

You are at imminent threat of prosecution because of your religion, race, nationality, membership in any specific social group, orientation or political opinion.

The INA Act quite explicitly provides asylum for these 5 bases and if you can prove even one of them, you will be granted asylum. These laws have been created as a result of the 1951 United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees.

While the first 3 bases may seem to be self-explanatory in nature,  however, persecution because of political opinion as well as membership of a social group may be less clear.

• Prosecution Because of Public Opinion

Here persecution based on and because of political opinion basically means that the asylum seeker has strong political views that are anathema to the government of his country of origin.  And because of these opinions, he is at risk of detainment and even death. It is incumbent upon the asylum seeker to provide proof that his boldly expressed political views have attracted the wrath of the government.

The immigration attorney asylum Orlando will help him to find the required proofs by furnishing the authorities with evidence of publishing opposition literature or openly participating in opposition to a tyrannical government that brooks no dissent. Other important proofs may consist of the applicant taking part in banned political activities or even joining any opposition political party that has been on the receiving end of a political purge.

• Persecution Because Of Membership in a Proscribed  Social Group

Unfortunately, cases of persecution due to membership in a proscribed social group areconsiderably more difficult to either define or to prove.  It will have to be an exceptionally skilled immigration attorney asylum Orlando who will be able to convince both judges and asylum officers alike into believing the asylum seeker. 

This is because of the varying nature of social groups as well as their interpretation. As such, the social group can vary in definition and interpretation.  However, for asylum cases the social group/s should consist of the following:

• Tribes (for example the Hmong in Vietnam who were prosecuted by the NVA because of their support for the US during the Vietnam war).
• Ethnic groups (The Houthi in Yemen)
• Social classes such as laborers and their union leaders
• People who are persecuted because of their sexual orientation
• What Will Happen to You Once You Have Become An ‘Asylee’?   

If you manage to gain that coveted ‘asylee’ status with the help of your immigration attorney that you have hired, you can rest assured that you will immediately be granted numerous benefits. First and foremost, both you and your family members will automatically be permitted to remain on US soil. Secondly, as your immigration attorney asylum, Orlando will inform you an asylee has the right to petition the federal government to bring his or her eligible family members to the US.  But perhaps, most important of all, the asylee has the legal right to apply for permanent residency status, that will lead to eventual citizenship along with all the rights that it confers to the citizenship holder.

• Asylee Vs. Refugee: Are They the Same?

While these two terms are more often than not used interchangeably, it is pertinent to note that asylum status is not quite the same thing as having refugee status. However, the difference is purely procedural in nature.

Basically, refugee status is exclusively available to those persons who have applied for asylum from outside US soil.  By this, it is meant that an individual seeking refugee status has to apply for the same to the relevant USCIS overseas office. While an asylum seeker, on the other hand, is someone who is actually present in US territory or is physically present at a port of entry.

However, asylum is not a straight forward open and shut case. In fact, most applications are rejected out of hand, especially if you do not have a duly qualified immigration attorney asylum Orlando with you.

While the USis rightly considered to be the bastion of human rights, but that certainly does not mean that just about everyone can walk over the border and gain asylum status immediately. Theprospective asylum seeker has to overcome multiple legal hurdles in order to be successful in his mission to stay on US territory as a legal permanent resident.

• Conclusion

In the light of the above discussion, we can safely conclude that even if an immigration court has issued your deportation order, it still does not mean that you to leave the country as soon as possible. On the contrary, with the right legal help, you have a pretty good chance of not only repealing the order but also gaining ‘asylee’ status in the US. 

Call us at 407-910-4770 or email us at [email protected]  for any immigration needs you may have.