ASYLUM ALERTS
📣 ALERT - UPDATED Form I-589, AFFIRMATIVE FILING LOCATION, and DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS
USCIS has announced changes of where to file affirmative asylum applications. Further, an updated form I-589 will be in effect on July 31, 2023. Effective immediately, applicants submitting Form I-589 no longer need to submit a passport-style photo, multiple copies of the form, or multiple copies of the supporting documentation. See the Instructions for Form I-589 for more information. Please see the announcement here!
📣 ALERT - New policy on applying for your green card after asylum approval
The new policy is that you can apply for a green card right after your asylum application is approved (instead of waiting for one year of living in the U.S.). However, while you can submit your green card application, the process will not be completed until you have been an asylee for one year. See the announcement here!
Filing online is permitted under one of these categories: (a)(12) – Temporary Protected Status granted; (c)(3)(A) – F-1 student, pre-completion Optional Practical Training; (c)(3)(B) – F-1 student, post-completion Optional Practical Training; (c)(3)(C) – F-1 student, 24-month extension for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students; (c)(8) – Asylum application pending for a minimum of 150 days; (c)(11) – Paroled for urgent humanitarian or significant public benefit purposes; or (c)(19) – Certain pending TPS applicants whom USCIS has determined are prima facie eligible for TPS and who may then receive an EAD as a “temporary treatment benefit” under 8 C.F.R. 244.10(a).
Stay tuned for more information on what this means for asylum seekers arriving at the border.
This TPS designation of Ethiopia allows nationals of Ethiopia (and individuals having no nationality who last habitually resided in Ethiopia) who have continuously resided in the United States since Oct. 20, 2022, and who have been continuously physically present in the United States since Dec. 12, 2022, to apply for TPS.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the extension and redesignation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months from Feb. 4, 2023 to Aug. 3, 2024. Those individuals who have already been residing in the United States as of November 6, 2022, will be eligible for TPS under Haiti’s redesignation. Haitians entering the United States after November 6, 2022, including those who might be considering entering now, are not eligible for TPS.