Houston Asylum Attorney: Protection for Those Fleeing Persecution

Who Qualifies for Asylum?

To be granted asylum, an applicant must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country based on one of five protected grounds:

The Five Protected Grounds

• Race: Persecution because of your race or ethnicity.
• Religion: Persecution for your religious beliefs, practices, or lack thereof.
• Nationality: Persecution due to your nationality or ethnic origin.
• Membership in a Particular Social Group: Persecution because you belong to a group sharing a common, immutable characteristic. This can include:
  • Family membership (targeted because of family ties)
  • Gender-based groups in certain contexts
  • LGBTQ+ individuals in countries where they face persecution
  • Former police, military, or government officials
  • Victims of domestic violence (in limited circumstances under current law)
  • Other groups defined through legal precedent
• Political Opinion: Persecution because of your political beliefs, activism, or political opinions attributed to you by the persecutor.

What Constitutes Persecution?

Persecution generally means serious harm or the threat of serious harm that the government of your country either inflicts, encourages, or is unable or unwilling to control. This can include:

• Physical violence or torture
• Imprisonment or detention
• Serious threats to life or freedom
• Severe discrimination that amounts to persecution
• Forced recruitment by armed groups

The One-Year Filing Deadline

In general, you must apply for asylum within one year of your most recent arrival in the United States. Missing this deadline is a common and serious problem. If you are past the one-year mark, you may still qualify if you can demonstrate:

• Changed circumstances: Conditions in your country have worsened, or your personal situation has changed in a way that affects your eligibility.
• Extraordinary circumstances: Something beyond your control prevented timely filing (such as serious illness, mental health conditions, or lack of legal representation).

We carefully evaluate late-filing situations and document any applicable exceptions.

Critical Policy Changes (2025-2026)

Asylum law has changed dramatically. Anyone considering an asylum claim must understand the current landscape:

USCIS Pause on Affirmative Asylum Decisions

On November 28, 2025, USCIS announced a pause on all decisions for pending affirmative asylum applications. This means:

• USCIS continues to accept new asylum applications.
• USCIS continues to conduct asylum interviews.
• However, USCIS is not issuing final decisions to grant or deny asylum at this time.

This pause applies to affirmative asylum cases filed with USCIS. The pause does not apply to defensive asylum cases before immigration judges.

Expanded Travel Restrictions

In late 2025, the administration expanded travel and immigration restrictions to cover nationals from 39 countries. For nationals of these countries, USCIS has implemented an indefinite hold on immigration benefit applications, including asylum.

New Asylum Filing Fee

Effective in 2025, there is now a $100 filing fee for asylum applications (Form I-589). Fee waivers are not available for asylum applications under current rules.

Employment Authorization Changes

• Maximum EAD validity reduced: For asylum applicants, Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) are now limited to a maximum of 18 months for applications filed or pending as of December 5, 2025.
• 540-day automatic extension ended: The 540-day automatic extension for timely-filed EAD renewal applications ended on October 30, 2025.
• Initial EADs still available: You may apply for an EAD 150 days after filing your asylum application, and it may be issued after 180 days if your case remains pending.

Review of Prior Refugee Cases

USCIS has announced it will review refugee cases for individuals admitted between January 21, 2021, and February 20, 2025.

Affirmative vs. Defensive Asylum

Affirmative Asylum

If you are not currently in removal proceedings, you apply affirmatively by filing Form I-589 with USCIS. USCIS schedules an interview at an Asylum Office, where an asylum officer conducts a non-adversarial interview to evaluate your claim. Currently, USCIS is accepting applications and conducting interviews, but has paused issuing final decisions on affirmative asylum cases.

If your affirmative case is not approved and you do not have another valid immigration status, USCIS may refer your case to Immigration Court for a new hearing before an Immigration Judge. Because referral is always a possibility, affirmative asylum applications should be prepared with the same rigor and evidentiary completeness as defensive cases — thorough declarations, organized corroboration, and legally sound protected-ground analysis.

Defensive Asylum

If you are already in removal proceedings before an Immigration Judge, you apply for asylum defensively by filing Form I-589 with the Immigration Court. The judge hears your case in a formal hearing, you present testimony and evidence through direct examination, the government attorney may cross-examine you, and the judge ultimately decides whether to grant asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention Against Torture.

Immigration judges can still grant asylum — the USCIS pause on affirmative decisions does not affect Immigration Court proceedings. Defensive cases involve litigation dynamics including government challenges to credibility, evidentiary objections, and close analysis of whether the applicant's harm rises to the level of persecution on a protected ground. Strong preparation — including organized documentary exhibits, detailed testimony preparation, and anticipation of government arguments — is essential for success in the defensive context.

Building a Strong Asylum Case

A successful asylum case requires much more than simply telling your story. The evidence must be organized to meet specific legal standards, address potential weaknesses proactively, and present a coherent narrative that connects your personal experience to the statutory requirements for asylum protection.

Your Personal Declaration

The heart of any asylum case is your sworn written declaration — a detailed personal statement explaining what happened to you, why you were targeted, who persecuted you, what harm you suffered, why you cannot safely return to your home country, and why your government cannot or will not protect you. A strong declaration is chronological, specific about dates and details, and connects each incident to a protected ground. We help clients move beyond generalized fear statements to present clear, specific, and legally relevant testimony that satisfies the analytical framework adjudicators use.

Corroborating Evidence

Supporting documentation strengthens credibility and fills gaps that testimony alone may leave. Corroborating evidence can include medical records documenting injuries, mental health treatment records, police reports, threatening communications (letters, messages, screenshots), witness declarations from family members or others with direct knowledge, photographs documenting conditions or injuries, news articles about relevant events, and expert testimony from country conditions specialists or medical professionals.

Corroboration is not always easy to obtain, especially for applicants who fled quickly or whose home countries lack functioning record-keeping systems. Even when perfect documentation is unavailable, strategic assembly of available evidence — combined with a credible explanation for missing records — can significantly strengthen the case.

Country Conditions Documentation

Country conditions evidence establishes the broader context for your claim. Standard sources include U.S. State Department Human Rights Reports, UNHCR country guidance documents, reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, academic research, news coverage from credible outlets, and expert declarations. Effective country conditions evidence does more than describe general violence or instability — it should directly support your specific protected-ground theory, demonstrate your government's inability or unwillingness to protect people in your situation, and address potential relocation arguments the government may raise.

Derivative Family Members

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 at the time of filing can be included in your asylum application as derivative applicants. If your family members are abroad at the time of a grant, follow-to-join provisions are available within two years after the asylum grant. Family inclusion planning should begin at the initial filing stage so derivative relationships are properly documented and procedural deadlines are not missed.

Credibility and Legal Analysis

Credibility determinations can decide asylum outcomes. Even honest applicants can appear inconsistent if their declarations, interview or hearing testimony, and documentary evidence are not carefully aligned. Discrepancies in dates, details, or the sequence of events — even minor ones — can be used against applicants by government attorneys or cited by adjudicators as reasons to question the overall claim.

We prepare clients to present truthful testimony clearly, consistently, and in a manner that directly addresses the legal elements the adjudicator must evaluate. Where unavoidable discrepancies exist (such as differences between an initial statement given in a stressful context and a later, more detailed declaration), we prepare explanations and context in advance rather than waiting for them to become credibility problems.

Nexus to a Protected Ground

The legal connection between the persecution and the protected ground (race, religion, nationality, particular social group, or political opinion) is a central element of every asylum case. This nexus requirement means that the persecutor must have been motivated, at least in part, by the applicant's protected characteristic. Establishing motive can be particularly challenging when persecutors are criminal organizations, gangs, or private actors rather than government officials.

Government Inability or Unwillingness to Protect

When persecution comes from non-state actors (such as gangs, cartels, abusive family members, or criminal organizations), the case must demonstrate that the home country government was unable or unwilling to provide meaningful protection. This can be shown through evidence of prior unsuccessful attempts to seek government help, systemic corruption in law enforcement, documented patterns of impunity for similar crimes, and expert analysis of institutional capacity in the applicant's country.

How Chris Hammond Law Firm Assists Asylum Seekers

Confidential Case Evaluation

We begin with a thorough review of your circumstances, including when you arrived, what you fear, who persecuted you, and what evidence may be available. This initial assessment identifies the strongest protected-ground theory, evaluates deadline issues, and determines whether additional forms of relief (such as withholding of removal or CAT protection) should also be pursued.

Deadline Compliance

We track the one-year filing deadline and any court-imposed deadlines, document exceptions where the deadline has passed, and ensure all filings are submitted on time. Late filings without a properly documented exception can result in denial regardless of the merits of the underlying claim.

Thorough Application Preparation

We prepare detailed declarations, organize corroborating evidence, compile country conditions packages, and frame the legal arguments connecting your facts to the statutory requirements. Every filing is assembled to anticipate government challenges and adjudicator questions.

Interview and Hearing Preparation

For affirmative cases, we prepare clients for USCIS asylum interviews with practice sessions covering likely questions and testimony strategy. For defensive cases in Immigration Court, we prepare for direct examination, anticipate government cross-examination themes, and conduct document-by-document review to ensure testimony and evidence are mutually reinforcing.

Work Authorization Assistance

Asylum applicants may apply for employment authorization 150 days after filing, with issuance possible after 180 days. We advise on EAD timing, renewal requirements, and the impact of recent policy changes on work authorization availability.

Family Inclusion

We plan derivative filings for eligible spouses and children and advise on follow-to-join pathways for family members abroad after a grant. Proper documentation of family relationships at the outset protects options down the road.

Ongoing Case Monitoring

Asylum policy is changing rapidly. We continuously monitor USCIS and EOIR policy updates, court orders, and operational changes that may affect your case, and update strategy accordingly throughout the life of your matter.

If your case also involves removal proceedings, review our deportation defense services. If your matter involves humanitarian relief alternatives, we can also discuss U visa options where appropriate.

What Happens After Asylum Is Granted?

Asylees receive protection from removal and authorization to remain in the United States. Upon grant, asylees are immediately authorized to work and may apply for a Social Security number if they do not already have one. Asylees may also apply to bring qualifying derivative family members (spouse and unmarried children under 21) to the United States through the follow-to-join process within two years of the asylum grant.

After one year in asylee status, asylees are eligible to apply for lawful permanent residence (a green card) using Form I-485. This transition is an important step because it establishes permanent immigration status and begins the clock toward eventual naturalization eligibility. We advise asylum clients on the timing and evidence requirements for the green card application, as well as long-term planning for travel, family reunification, and citizenship.

Asylees should also be aware that travel to the home country after a grant can raise serious legal questions about whether the fear of persecution that justified the grant still exists. We counsel clients on travel risks and help them understand how post-grant conduct can affect their immigration status.

Frequently Asked Questions