"Statistics show that persons with attorney representation during the asylum process are six more times likely to be successful with their case."
Each year, thousands of people come to the United States seeking asylum from ethnic, political, racial or religious persecution. At Schifanelli & Associates, LLC, in Maryland, our immigration attorneys take pride in helping refugees and asylum seekers present their cases to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). With compassion and attention to detail, we assist immigrants filing either affirmative asylum petitions with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Asylum Offices, or defensive asylum applications (on behalf of those persons who are in removal and deportation proceedings in the Immigration Courts).
Asylum is not automatic, and the burden is on the prospective asylee - the person filing the asylum application - to prove that he or she is meets the criteria for asylum. To be successful, the pending asylee must be able to demonstrate past persecution or a well founded fear of persecution should they be returned to their home country or the country where they last resided. Also, they must meet the preliminary requirements under United States asylum law.
It may seem beyond doubt to the victims of persecution that he or she has a well-founded fear of returning to his or her country and should be granted asylee status in the U.S. However, proving that to the USCIS asylum officer is another matter. The consequences of failure - being denied asylum and potentially deported back to the government or group who committed the persecution - is simply too great to proceed without professional assistance. Statistics show that persons with attorney representation during the asylum process are six more times likely to be successful with their case.
We help prepare the applicant's asylum case by presenting well researched attorney briefs that consider the relevant asylum laws, demonstrate the asylee's history of past persecution, and argue that the asylee has a well-founded fear of further persecution if he or she is returned to the country from which they fled persecution. These asylum briefs provide clarity and insight for the USCIS asylum officers who will decide an asylum applicant's petition.
Asylees Referred to the U.S. Immigration Courts
Often the USCIS Asylum Offices will refrain from approving or denying an individual's asylum application. Instead, Asylum Offices will refer the case to the Immigration Court for Deportation and Removal proceedings, and for the Immigration Judge to make the final determination on the asylum application. The asylee will then have an opportunity to renew his or her asylum application with the Immigration Judge, or possibly to apply for withholding of removal. These can be complicated cases, with testimony, expert and lay witnesses, and documentary evidence. The immigration court rules must be strictly adhered to or the case may be dismissed prematurely.
Appealing a Denial of an Asylum Petition
With some major exceptions, you must apply for asylum within one year of your last arrival in the United States. If you have been rejected because you failed to meet the one-year statutory period, the skilled immigration attorneys at Schifanelli & Associates, LLC may still be able to take action, helping you get your asylum application filed as "timely," and allowing you to pursue a grant of asylum. For example, the United States asylum laws allow consideration of changed circumstances in your home country after your arrival in the U.S., possibly tolling the statutory one-year period. Or, if there were extraordinary circumstances that prevented you from applying within one year, or if you were only a minor when you entered, you may be able to successfully carry your asylum case.
Attorney Marc Schifanelli is a twenty-two year veteran of the United States Army. Living and working among peoples in many "less developed nations," he has developed a deep understanding of the dire circumstances that lead people to flee their homes and country of birth in order to seek asylum and shelter in the United States. At Schifanelli & Associates, LLC, we are sympathetic to your situation. We have represented clients from many countries, including Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Liberia, Iraq, Pakistan, and countries throughout South and Central America. Contact Schifanelli & Associates, LLC.
Do you have questions about asylum law? Contact Schifanelli & Associates, LLC by calling (866) 451-2176 in Annapolis to schedule an initial consultation. These consultations are confidential. We speak Spanish, French, German, Serbo-Croatian, in addition to English.
