Asylum One-Year Deadline Loophole: What Are Changed Circumstances?
Winning asylum gives an entire family a new beginning in the United States. The main person applying, their spouse, and their unmarried children under 21 years of age can all apply for green cards after asylum is approved. This opportunity for a new beginning, applying for asylum, is possible EVEN IF THE FOREIGNER ENTERED OVER ONE YEAR AGO.
Most Common Exception to Asylum One Year Filing Deadline
A noncitizen can win asylum filed after the one-year filing deadline if one of two exceptions applies: (1) changed circumstances or (2) extraordinary circumstances relating to the delay in filing the application. The first exception is the best. When our clients win asylum even though they applied late, it’s because we showed there was a good reason their situation changed.
What Are Changed Circumstances for Asylum?
For asylum filed after the one-year deadline to be approved because of changed circumstances, the changes have to materially affect the case. “Materially” is a legal term. Applicants who file asylum after the one-year deadline lower their chance of winning if they don’t hire an immigration law expert. Changed circumstances include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Changes in conditions in the applicant’s home country
- Changes in U.S. law
- Activities the applicant becomes involved in while in the United States
- In the case of persons dependent on another pending asylum application, the loss of the spousal or parent-child relationship to the principal applicant through marriage, divorce, death, or attainment of age 21
The Changes Can Happen AFTER The Filing Of Asylum
Continuation of changes are not changed circumstances. For example, a new death threat ten years after entering the U.S. is not a change if the applicant left their home country because of prior death threats.
Importantly, changes that happen AFTER filing the asylum application can be used to excuse the one-year deadline. Another example, an LGBTQ person files for asylum five years after entering the United States and, one year after filing, they marry. If same-sex marriage is punishable by death in the noncitizen’s home country, the marriage (which happened AFTER filing the asylum) will forgive that the application was not filed within one year after entering.
If you or your friends need an asylum immigration expert, Call 954.385.0157 or Click “For Future Clients” to schedule a chat with our asylum immigration experts.
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Disclaimer – These entries are based on real life events. Family member names, when used, are real. Client names are changed for privacy.
