Asylum Deadline Loophole: U.S. Citizen Child Exception

The U.S. asylum one-year filing deadline has exceptions for changed circumstances or extraordinary circumstances.  The birth of a baby qualifies as a changed circumstance if the noncitizen is more likely to be harmed because they have a U.S. citizen child. For example, in Haiti and Venezuela persons who have U.S. ties are targeted and more likely to be kidnapped and killed. In China and Saudi Arabia, the legal systems specifically penalize families with mixed-nationality children.

The birth of a U.S. citizen child qualifies as an extraordinary circumstance exception to the one-year asylum filing deadline if the child or mother had was in a serious medical condition after the birth. Applicants are forgiven for placing the health and wellbeing of their close family members as a priority over filing an asylum application. Importantly, however, the asylum case must be filing quickly after the baby or the mother recovers.

Strong evidence and a clear explanation are key. Our attorneys have degrees in journalism, literature, and nonfiction – extra skills beyond what most lawyers have – to improve our clients’ chance of success.