Proving
Changed and Extraordinary Circumstances When Applying
for Asylum
CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES:
These may include but are not
limited to the following:
changes in conditions in the
applicant’s country of nationality or, if
the applicant is stateless, country of last habitual
residence;
changes in the applicant’s
circumstances that materially affect the applicant’s
eligibility for asylum, including changes in applicable
U.S. law and activities the applicant becomes
involved in outside the country of feared persecution
that place the applicant at risk; or
in the case of an alien
who had previously been included as a dependent
in another alien’s 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.
EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES:
These may
include but are not limited to the following:
Serious illness or mental
or physical disability, including any effects
of persecution or violent harm suffered in the
past, during the 1-year period after arrival;
Legal disability (e.g., the
applicant was an unaccompanied minor or suffered
from a mental impairment) during the 1-year period
after arrival;
Ineffective assistance of
counsel, provided that:
The applicant files an affidavit
setting forth in detail the agreement that was
entered into with counsel with respect to the
actions to be taken and what representations
counsel did or did not make to the respondent
in this regard;
The counsel whose integrity
or competence is being impugned has been informed
of the allegations leveled against him or her
and given an opportunity to respond; and
The applicant indicates
whether a complaint has been filed with appropriate
disciplinary authorities with respect to any
violation of counsel’s ethical or legal
responsibilities, and if not, why not;
The applicant maintained
Temporary Protected Status, lawful immigrant
or nonimmigrant status, or was given parole,
until a reasonable period before the filing
of the asylum application;
The applicant filed an asylum
application prior to the expiration of the 1-year
deadline, but that application was rejected
by the Service as not properly filed, was returned
to the applicant for corrections, and was refiled
within a reasonable period thereafter; or
The death or serious illness
or incapacity of the applicant’s legal
representative or a member of the applicant’s
immediate family.
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