KRA Immigration Law: Michigan Attorneys, Immigration, Naturalization, Visas

Refugees, Asylees and TPS

This section is for those who were or are being persecuted and need protection. This section is split up into three sections, Refugees, Asylees, and Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

Refugees

Note: each year, the President, after consultation with Congress, designates certain countries or areas as places from which the United States will fill the 50,000 or more annual refugee quota.

Who qualifies:

A person outside of his/her country of nationality and not within the United States or at the borders of the United States, who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her home country because of persecution or a "well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular group, or political opinion."

Steps:

An application cannot be presented at any consular office or any consular officer. It may be presented only to those few offices or officers designated worldwide for the acceptance of refugee applications, unless direct filing is impracticable in which case the application can be filed preliminarily with a designated consular officer. It then must be sent to a post that handles refugee matters and the applicant then must appear in person at one of the few designated posts for an "inquiry under oath" as to the person's admissibility.

Asylees

Who qualifies:

A person physically present in the United States or at land borders or ports of entry, who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her home country because of persecution or a "well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular group, or political opinion."

Needed Documents:

1. Proof of persecutions [Current news articles, personal medical reports, letter from relatives]

2. Birth Certificate

3. Proof of relationship for spouse and children if applicable

Steps:

Application for Asylum (I-589) must be filed in triplicate within one year of arrival in the United States by mail with the Service Processing Center with jurisdiction over the asylum office. It must be thorough, exacting and complete, and must be accompanied by all required materials. Asylum Officers, who receive special training in international relations and international law, review, hear and decide asylum applications.

Temporary Protected Status

Who qualifies:

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a temporary immigration benefit granted to eligible nationals of designated countries by the U.S. Attorney General. These individuals are not required to leave the United States even if their nonimmigrant status has expired. The Attorney General, after consultation with appropriate government agencies, may designate a country for TPS after determining with respect to that foreign state that:

1. There is an ongoing armed conflict within the state posing a serious threat to the personal safety of the country's nationals if returned there;

2. There has been an earthquake, flood, drought, epidemic or other environmental disaster resulting in a substantial but temporary disruption of living conditions in the area affected; or,

3. There exist extraordinary and temporary conditions in the foreign state that prevent aliens who are nationals from returning safely.

Steps:

Find your country on this list below to see if you qualify for TPS

Current Foreign States Under TPS	Designation Date	Designation Scheduled to Expire
Burundi	11/4/1997	Designation has been terminated effective 12:01 a.m. May 2, 2009. To maintain TPS benefits through May 1, 2009, Burundian TPS beneficiaries must comply with re-registration requirements.
El Salvador	3/9/2001	9/9/2010
Honduras	1/5/1999	7/5/2010
Nicaragua	1/5/1999	7/5/2010
Somalia	9/16/1991	9/17/2009
Sudan	11/4/1997	5/2/2010

If you found the information that you want and wish to contact us to set up an appointment to help you, please call. It does not matter where you are located because we handle cases from all over the United States.