You may be able to get asylum if you have a well-founded fear of persecution in your home country because of your race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group or political opinion. The law enshrines these five grounds of protection in the Immigration and Nationality Act. The right to seek asylum has a long history. The right was first recognized in the Ancient Egyptian, Greek and Hebrew texts, and later by the medieval European kingdoms that offered sanctuary to persecuted foreigners.
To qualify for asylum, you must show past persecution and have a well-founded fear that you would be persecuted again if you return to your home country. You must also prove that you meet one of the five protected categories.
The best way to do this is to demonstrate that your past persecution was because of your alleged membership in a social group, or that you were persecuted because of your race, religion or political opinion. However, not all cases are this clear cut. For example, victims of domestic violence may be able to demonstrate that their persecution was because of their gender or sexual orientation.
Once you have submitted your asylum application, USCIS will send you a notice. Keep this in a safe place and bring it to your hearing, which will be scheduled by the immigration court. You will need to bring a copy of your passport and copies of the passports of any qualifying family members, if applicable. The judge will stamp these documents and give you two copies back. Give one to the government attorney and keep the other for your records.
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