Afghan Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) Parolee Asylum-Related Frequently Asked Questions
USCIS cannot provide you legal advice about your immigration status. For information about finding legal services, please see the USCIS website, uscis.gov/avoid-scams/find-legal-services.
To apply for asylum, you must complete Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, and follow the instructions carefully. This is where you can find Form I-589 online. This page includes an “alert” titled: “Expeditious Asylum Adjudication for Certain Afghans” where you can find more specific instructions.
If you fall into one of the two categories below, you should follow the instructions to ensure expeditious processing of your Form I-589 under Section 2502(c) of the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act (PDF):
Category 1
- You are a citizen or national of Afghanistan, or you have no nationality and last habitually resided in Afghanistan;
- You were paroled into the United States between July 30, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2022; and
- Your parole has not been terminated.
Category 2
- You are a citizen or national of Afghanistan, or you have no nationality and last habitually resided in Afghanistan;
- You were paroled into the United States after Sept. 30, 2022, and
- You are the spouse or child of an individual who meets Category 1 above, or
- You are the parent or legal guardian of an individual who meets Category 1 above and who is determined to be an unaccompanied child as defined under 6 U.S.C. 279(g)(2); and
- Your parole has not been terminated.
To make sure USCIS knows that your asylum application must be expedited, when you complete your Form I-589, please complete the following additional steps:
- If you are submitting a Form I-589, address the envelope according to guidance in the “Where to File” or “Special Instructions” section (whichever applies) on the webpage for Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal;
- Mark “Attn: OAW” anywhere on the front of the envelope;
- On page 1 of Form I-589, Part A.I., Question 19c, write your current status followed by “(Parole)” in the Status field. For example, if you entered the United States with an “OAR” status, you would write “OAR (Parole)” in the Status field; and
- Include your most recent date of entry in the Date field on page 1 of Form I-589, Part A.I., Question 19c.
If you properly complete your Form I-589 and we determine that you meet the eligibility criteria for Category 1 or 2 above, we will submit your Form I-589 for expeditious processing under Section 2502(c) of the Act (explained further below).
There is no fee to apply for asylum.
You may include your spouse and children as dependents of your asylum application, so long as they are in the United States at the time you file or at any time until we make a final decision on your application. Children must be under 21 and unmarried to be included as a dependent on your application. You should bring these dependents with you to your asylum interview.
Yes. Every individual who applies for asylum is subject to background and security checks. Depending on the results of these checks you may be found ineligible for a grant of asylum.
You may bring your own attorney or accredited representative to the asylum interview, at no cost to the U.S. government.
If you do not speak English, you will be interviewed through an interpreter who you bring with you to the interview.
We do not provide any interpreters during the asylum interview, except if you are deaf or hard of hearing. If you are deaf or hard of hearing and need assistance in obtaining an appropriate interpreter, contact the asylum office with jurisdiction over your case in advance of your scheduled asylum interview.
You must bring an interpreter if you do not speak English well enough to be interviewed in English. The interpreter must be fluent in English and a language you speak fluently and must be at least 18 years old.
The following individuals cannot serve as your interpreter:
- Your attorney or representative;
- A witness testifying on your behalf at the interview; or
- A representative or employee of the government of your country.
The regulation relating to interpreters can be found at 8 CFR 208.9(g).
If you do not bring a competent interpreter to your interview and you cannot speak English, we will cancel and reschedule your interview. This is considered a delay caused by you. If you have filed Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, and there are any outstanding delays in the adjudication of your asylum application that you caused, we will deny your Form I-765.
Although we do not provide interpreters for the interview, we use contract interpreters to monitor asylum interviews at local asylum offices and other locations by telephone. In general, the role of the contract interpreter is limited to monitoring your interpreter’s interpretation. Contract interpreters may be expected to occasionally interject if your interpreter fails to provide adequate, accurate, and neutral interpretation.
You will arrive at an asylum office for a non-adversarial interview with an asylum officer who will verify your identity and ask you basic biographic questions and the reason you are applying for asylum. Everything you say at the interview is confidential. It is very important that you tell the asylum officer your experiences with as much detail as possible so they can determine whether you qualify as a refugee. We will not make a decision on your application on the same day as your asylum interview.
Yes, there is a provision of law that requires applicants for asylum to apply within 1 year of their last arrival to the United States, unless they can show that they qualify for an exception. One of the exceptions is if the applicant can show that there are extraordinary circumstances directly related to the delay in filing and that the applicant filed within a reasonable period of time given those circumstances.
Generally, maintaining valid status or parole until a reasonable period before the filing of the asylum application will be considered an extraordinary circumstance. If you were granted valid status or parole within one year of the date of your last arrival in the United States and you applied for asylum within a reasonable period of time of the expiration of your valid status or parole, generally this exception would apply to you. The USCIS website “Obtaining Asylum in the United States” has more specific information. Make sure to look under “Affirmative Asylum Processing with USCIS.”
The requirement that an asylum applicant must file within 1 year of entering the United States applies to all asylum applicants. However, Afghan parolees may qualify for an exception to the 1-year filing deadline if they do not file within 1 year.
To qualify for an exception, you must first show changed circumstances materially affecting your eligibility for asylum or an extraordinary circumstance relating to your delay in filing an application for asylum. Maintaining parole during the 1-year period after you arrived in the United States can qualify as an extraordinary circumstance.
In addition to establishing a changed or extraordinary circumstance, you also must show that you filed your asylum application within a reasonable amount of time given the circumstance. You may be eligible for the extraordinary circumstances exception to the 1-year filing deadline if you file for asylum while your parole is still valid. (Your parole is not valid if you violate its terms.) If you file your asylum application after your parole expires, you may still qualify for an exception to the 1-year filing deadline if you filed for asylum within a reasonable period of time after your parole expired. A USCIS asylum officer will determine whether the delay is reasonable after your asylum interview.
If you apply for asylum after your parole expires, we will accept your application and schedule you for an interview. At the interview, in addition to discussing the reason why you are applying for asylum, the asylum officer will ask you questions about why you did not file the application earlier. Based on your answers, the asylum officer will determine whether you have established a changed or extraordinary circumstance and whether your delay in filing an application for asylum is reasonable given the circumstance.
If the asylum officer determines that you have established a changed or extraordinary circumstance and that your delay in filing was reasonable, you will have established that you qualify for an exception to the 1-year filing deadline. Then, the asylum officer will decide the merits of your claim(s) for asylum.
If the asylum officer determines that you did not establish a changed or extraordinary circumstance or that the delay in filing was not reasonable, then you will not have established that you qualify for an exception to the 1-year filing deadline and you will be found not eligible to apply for asylum. If you have not obtained immigration status or other permission to stay in the United States by that time, we will refer your asylum application to an immigration judge to consider anew.
We cannot provide legal advice regarding whether or when you should apply for asylum. If you believe you should receive protection from the United States in the form of asylum, you should apply as soon as possible after you make that determination. There is no benefit to allowing your parole to expire before applying for immigration status in the United States.
You may apply for asylum while on TPS, but we cannot advise you on whether you should because we cannot provide legal advice. Visit Find Legal Services for information on finding a legal services provider who can assist you. Please note that, like parole, TPS is temporary.
You may apply for asylum if you have SIV status, but we cannot advise you on whether you should because we cannot provide legal advice. Visit Find Legal Services for information on finding a legal services provider who can assist you. Unlike parole or TPS, SIV status and asylum provide a path to permanent immigration status. However, the benefits of SIV status and asylum status differ. You should know the differences before you decide how to proceed with obtaining permanent immigration status.
The asylum officer will evaluate the information you provide on your application and during your interview, as well as other information that may be available to them. The officer will use this information to determine:
- Whether you meet the definition of a refugee, and
- That you are not barred from a grant of asylum, and
- That you merit a grant of asylum as a matter of discretion.
If you are found ineligible, but you continue to hold valid status or parole so that you qualify to remain in the United States, USCIS will send you a notice of intent to deny your asylum application. This notice will explain the reason or reasons you are found ineligible. You will have the opportunity to rebut these reasons and provide additional evidence to support your asylum application. If you do not hold a valid immigration status or parole, or if you are not qualified to remain in the United States at the time of the asylum office’s decision, you will be placed in removal proceedings and USCIS will refer your asylum application to an immigration judge, who will reevaluate your asylum application.
You can use Case Status Online to track the status of your asylum application. You will need the receipt number that USCIS mailed you after you filed your asylum application. If you continue to have questions, use our Asylum Office Locator to find the USCIS asylum office that conducted or will conduct your asylum interview.
We are expediting pending asylum applications filed by certain Afghan applicants. For these applications, we will conduct the initial interview for an asylum application within 45 days of filing and, if there are no exceptional circumstances, we will complete the final adjudication within 150 days of filing. For more information, see the Asylum section of USCIS’ Information for Afghan Nationals webpage.