Political Asylum
Political Asylum is an ancient concept under which people, who have been persecuted for their political opinions or religious beliefs and abandoned by their country, are protected by another foreign country. They have been various cases in the past where such individuals have turned to foreign countries for help and have been offered protection.
This can be dated to as far as Egyptians, Greeks and Hebrews who recognized the right of asylum to protected criminals from legal action severed upon them by their country of residence. Various rules were developed to qualify for political asylum.
The political asylum is a human right conferred by Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All countries who have agreed to the United Nations Conventions relating to refugees must let people who qualify, enter their country.
Political Asylum Eligibility
Key Considerations: The first basic reason that lets you apply for political asylum is if you are afraid to return to your country where you belong or the country that you last stayed in for reasons of being persecuted in the past or because you anticipate fear of being persecuted based on your race, religion or nationality.
There is a broad range of activities that may be termed as persecution like death threats, psychological abuse or severe economic deprivation. Even if you do not have an existing fear, if you can prove that you have an anticipated fear of an activity occurring on returning to your previous residence, and this is supported by evidence, you can apply for political asylum. In order to be eligible to apply for the asylum, your fear needs to relate to.
- Political Opinion
- Membership in a social group
- Race
- Religion
- Nationality
Full facts in Application for Asylum: You need to ensure that you do not make up any stories in your asylum. All the details you put in need to be one hundred per cent genuine. If any of the minute details you enter is not true or if the authorities get the slightest idea that the facts are made up, the consequences would be serious. Your application will be denied and you will be permanently denied eligibility for any immigration privileges. You will be blacklisted and never allowed to apply again in future.
How to Apply: You are allowed to apply for asylum if and only if you will be arriving or are already in the Unites States. You are permitted to ask for an asylum at the port of entry. If you are already residing in the United States, then you would need to fill form I-589. This can be filled irrespective of your immigration status. This also overlooks the fact whether you are residing in the U.S, legally or illegally. The condition is that you need to apply within one year from the last time that you entered United States. Anything otherwise will need to be supported with evidence to uphold the reasons for having failed. Remember that you can apply only once and you cannot apply if done previously and denied.
