Resources Immigration and asylum
Applying for asylum
Who can ask for asylum, how to count the one-year deadline, where and how to file form I-589, and how to find help you can trust.
This is general information, not legal advice: QARAVAN has no lawyers. QARAVAN does not help anyone enter the US and cannot arrange visas, invitations, sponsorship or evacuation. For your own case, talk to a licensed immigration attorney or a representative accredited by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Asylum is protection in the US for a person who faces serious harm at home because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. According to USCIS, you can ask for asylum however you entered and whatever your status, as long as you are physically in the US.
Form I-589 goes to USCIS or, if you are already in removal proceedings, to the immigration court. The order: check the deadline, find out where your case is, find help, and only then file.
Start here
- File within one year of your last arrival in the US. If you are late, ask a lawyer about exceptions right away.
- If you have a case in immigration court, file with the court, not USCIS. You can check on the EOIR website with your A-Number.
- Only a licensed attorney or an accredited representative may legally give advice on your immigration case or represent you. Translators, document services, “immigration consultants” and travel agents, including those advertising in Russian, have no such right, so check anyone before you pay.
You must file within one year of your last arrival in the US. Exceptions can help if you are late, but a lawyer must decide whether they fit you.
Find your last arrival date
The year counts from your last arrival in the US. The date is on your I-94 (arrival record) and the passport stamp. For people who arrived before April 1, 1997, the count started on that date.
Count one year
If the last day of the year falls on a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.
Know what counts as filing
The filing date is the day USCIS (or the court) receives the application; the mailing date counts only with clear and convincing proof. The receipt notice shows this date.
If the year has passed, do not give up on the application
The one-year deadline applies only to asylum, not to withholding of removal. A late application is accepted if one of two exceptions fits: changed or extraordinary circumstances. It must be filed within a reasonable time after the circumstances changed or ended, so see a lawyer as soon as you can. Changed circumstances also include your own actions outside your country that now put you in danger and, for family members in your application, losing that relationship through marriage, divorce, death or turning 21. If you rely on ineffective help from a lawyer, you need written proof.
Attach your evidence from the start
Since July 28, 2026, USCIS can send a case to court without an interview if the papers show you are not eligible for asylum (for example, because you missed the deadline) and you have no other lawful basis to stay. So attach evidence from the start and answer USCIS requests on time.
Exceptions to the 1-year deadline under 8 CFR 208.4 (the Code of Federal Regulations, the federal rulebook)
| What can count | What you must also show | |
|---|---|---|
| Changed circumstances, section 208.4(a)(4) | Changes in conditions in your country, or in your own situation, that affect your eligibility, including changes in US law | You applied within a reasonable period after the change; if you learned of it later, when you learned of it is taken into account |
| Extraordinary circumstances, section 208.4(a)(5) | Serious illness or disability, a legal disability, ineffective help from a lawyer, keeping lawful status or parole, a timely application rejected as improper, or the death or incapacity of a representative or close relative | You did not create the circumstance yourself, it is directly related to the delay, the delay was reasonable, and you applied within a reasonable period; the burden of proof is on you |
Which path is yours depends on one thing: whether you are in removal proceedings in immigration court. In court an ICE lawyer represents the government. There is also a third path, the Asylum Merits Interview, for people who passed a credible fear screening at entry; ask a lawyer about it.
Two routes to asylum
| Affirmative, through USCIS | Defensive, through immigration court | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | People who are not in removal proceedings in court, and unaccompanied children | People who have already been summoned to immigration court (they have a removal case) |
| Where you file Form I-589 | With USCIS, online or by mail | With the court, not with USCIS, following the judge's and the ICE attorney's instructions |
| Who decides | A USCIS asylum officer, after an interview | An immigration judge; an ICE attorney argues against the application |
| Interpreter | You usually bring your own: USCIS provides one only for people who are deaf or hard of hearing | The court provides one |
| If asylum is not granted | If you have no other lawful status, USCIS issues a Notice to Appear (NTA, the court summons that starts a removal case) and refers the case to an immigration judge, who hears it from the beginning | Either side can appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) |
You can file with USCIS yourself. If you need help, go only to people who have the legal right to give legal advice, and check them before you hand over money or documents.
Who may represent you
Any statusFree
Only a licensed attorney or an accredited representative may legally give advice on your immigration case or represent you, and before USCIS also a law student or graduate supervised by one of them. Translators, document preparers, “consultants” and travel agents have no such right. Before USCIS your representative files form G-28, signed by both of you; in immigration court they file form EOIR-28, and at the BIA form EOIR-27.
How to check an attorney: the New York State Attorney Directory
Any statusFree
The free Attorney Directory of the New York State courts. Search by first and last name; the first letters are enough. The link is on EOIR's page about representatives (the directory asks not to be linked to directly). Questions: attyreg@nycourts.gov.
How to check an accredited representative: the Justice Department roster
Any statusFree
Accredited representatives work only through a nonprofit recognized by the Department of Justice. Court and BIA cases need full accreditation; partial is enough only for USCIS. The Department publishes the list of organizations and representatives; the October 25, 2026 file has 947 organizations.
Checking for disciplined practitioners
Any statusFree
The Department of Justice list of lawyers and representatives currently barred from immigration cases. Check it before you hire anyone.
How to spot a scam
Any status
Walk away if someone promises a fast work permit, “connections” at immigration or a sure result, asks you to sign a blank or incomplete form, wants your originals, or takes money without a detailed receipt. Forms are free at uscis.gov/forms. Ask for a written contract, copies of every paper and a receipt with the preparer's name and address, get a second opinion, and choose someone with a real office. Be especially careful with Russian-language ads that promise asylum as a turnkey service.
Where to report a scam
Any statusFree
File a complaint on the website of the City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection or with the New York State Attorney General through the form at ag.ny.gov/file-complaint/consumer. You can complain to the City without giving your name or status.
NYC Immigration Legal Support Hotline
NYC residentsFree
The free City line of MOIA (formerly ActionNYC) refers you to centers where your situation is reviewed for free and lawyers help, whatever your status, if you live in New York City and household income is below 200% of the federal poverty level. Say "Russian": the line helps in your language, but a place at a center is not guaranteed.
New Americans Hotline (New York State)
Any statusFree
New York State's line for new Americans: answers immigration questions anonymously, refers people to free lawyers, detained people included, and takes complaints about scammers. Over 200 languages: say "Russian" and a free interpreter joins.
For the affirmative path, when you have no court case.
Make sure you are not in court
If you have an immigration court case, you file there; an application filed in the wrong place is rejected. Check your case in Automated Case Information on the EOIR website.
Get the current form
Get the form only at uscis.gov/i-589: forms are free, and the July 28, 2026 edition is current. The Russian translation is for reading only: the form must be filled in in English.
Choose online or by mail
The Filing Instructions Tool on the USCIS website tells you whether you can file online: not everyone can. Unaccompanied children, people whose earlier court case was closed or dismissed, and people whose NTA was never filed with the court must file by mail.
Fill in the whole form in English
Answer every question, including why you are asking for asylum, sign the form and attach the addenda you need. USCIS rejects a form with blank parts, no signature or no explanation. Write only the truth, and before you sign, ask for the whole form to be read to you in Russian. If a judge finds the application knowingly frivolous, you lose the right to any immigration benefits in the US for good.
Include your family
A spouse and unmarried children under 21 who are in the US can be added when you file or later, before the final decision. Each gets their own fingerprint appointment.
Attach evidence with translations
Documents not in English need an English translation. Do not attach passport photos or extra copies.
Pay the $100 fee
The fee is $100, with no waiver. On paper, pay by card with form G-1450 or by bank debit (ACH) with form G-1650; the card or account must be with a U.S. bank. USCIS does not take checks, money orders or cash, except with an approved exemption on form G-1651.
Mail it to the USCIS mail-in processing address (lockbox)
From New York the application goes to Chicago, to the USCIS lockbox. Keep a copy of everything you send and the mailing receipt.
Do not file a second application
If your first application is still pending, do not file another one. To add a family member, mail a request to the asylum office that has your case.
USCIS lockbox in Chicago (for New York residents)
Asylum applicants
A lockbox is the USCIS center that takes applications by mail. From New York State, asylum applications go to Chicago (from Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas, to Dallas). By regular mail: USCIS, Attn: I-589, P.O. Box 6893, Chicago, IL 60680. By courier (FedEx, UPS, DHL): USCIS, Attn: I-589 (Box 6893), 131 S. Dearborn St., 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60603-5517. The address can change: check the form's page.
Filing online in a USCIS account
Asylum applicants
Only some affirmative applicants can file online. Create an account at my.uscis.gov; the Filing Instructions Tool on the I-589 page tells you whether you qualify.
For the defensive path, when removal proceedings have started.
Tell the judge you want to ask for asylum
Say it at the first (master calendar) hearing. Once you file for protection, the judge sets the individual hearing.
Follow the ICE attorney's instructions
The ICE lawyer should give you the “Instructions for Submitting Certain Applications in Immigration Court”: what to do so the court can decide your application, including background checks and fingerprints. Follow them.
File with the court and pay court fees through the court's portal
Form I-589 is filed with the court, not with USCIS. Fees for forms filed in court are paid only through the EOIR Payment Portal; since February 23, 2026 the court does not accept checks or money orders.
Do not mail the first three pages of the form to USCIS
Since December 16, 2024, people with a court case do not mail the first three pages of Form I-589 to USCIS: DHS starts the background checks itself, and USCIS mails the fingerprint appointment to the address on record with the court.
Keep your address current
If you move, file Form EOIR-33/IC with the court, or the fingerprint appointment will go to your old address.
Keep your receipt notice
USCIS sends two notices: the receipt notice and the fingerprint appointment. The receipt date is your filing date for the one-year deadline.
Send nothing for the fingerprints
You do not send a fingerprint card or a fee: it is all done at the center where you are summoned.
Send new evidence to the asylum office
After the application is accepted, send new documents to your local asylum office, not the lockbox. All evidence must be there at least 14 calendar days before the interview.
Do not file the work-permit application with Form I-589
A form I-765 sent together with the I-589 is rejected as too early. File it later, once the waiting period has passed.
Check your case online
The USCIS website has Case Status Online: enter the receipt number from your notice.
Pay the Annual Asylum Fee every year
If the application is pending for more than a year, you pay the fee every year.
Stay away from the consulate of the country you fled
While your asylum case is pending, QARAVAN advises not to go to the consulate of the country you are asking protection from, for a passport or any papers. If you need a document from there, ask a lawyer first.
You already have a Notice to Appear
Asylum applicants
If the NTA was filed with the court 21 days or less before USCIS received your application, USCIS forwards it to the court. If it was filed 22 or more days before, USCIS returns the application, and you must ask for asylum in court. The USCIS page on this is dated January 2021, so check with a lawyer.
Unaccompanied children
Under 18
According to USCIS, unaccompanied children file with USCIS even if they have a court case, and file by mail.
If you filed in the wrong place
Any status
An application filed in the wrong place (USCIS instead of the court, or the other way round) is rejected. Check your case on the EOIR website with your A-Number before filing.
Organizations that focus on LGBTQ+ people's cases.
Immigration Equality
Asylum applicantsFree
Free help for LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV seeking asylum, often with volunteer lawyers. Fill in the confidential form on the website; the phone is only for calls from immigration detention. The form does not guarantee representation.
Immigration Equality self-help guides in Russian
Asylum applicantsFree
If you don't have a lawyer yet, the guide explains in Russian how to apply for asylum yourself based on sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status. It was last reviewed on September 22, 2023, and fees have changed since.
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Asylum applicantsFree
Helps low-income trans, gender-nonconforming and intersex immigrants with applications, but intake of new cases may be closed. Email legal@srlp.org without case details: they reply within a few days.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Washington office
Asylum applicants
According to USCIS, the Washington office of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, can help you find people who will help fill in form I-589.
- Asylum
- Protection in the US for a person who fears serious harm in their home country because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.
- Particular social group
- One of the five grounds for asylum; a lawyer can explain whether your situation fits.
- Affirmative asylum
- An application you file yourself with USCIS while no removal case against you is pending in court.
- Defensive asylum
- A request for asylum that you make to a judge as a defense against removal.
- Withholding of removal
- A separate protection to which the one-year deadline does not apply; a lawyer can explain how it differs from asylum.
- Lockbox
- A USCIS processing center that receives applications by mail.
- Receipt notice
- A USCIS letter confirming that it received your application; it has your receipt number.
- Dependent (derivative)
- A spouse or unmarried child under 21 who is included in your application.
- Form G-28
- The notice of representation that tells USCIS that a lawyer or accredited representative represents you. In immigration court the form is EOIR-28, at the BIA EOIR-27.
- USCIS
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that decides immigration applications.
- EOIR
- The Executive Office for Immigration Review, the federal agency inside the US Department of Justice that operates the immigration courts.
- TPS
- Temporary Protected Status, a temporary protection for nationals of certain countries.
All pages: Immigration and asylum
Sources, checked November 2026
- acis.eoir.justice.gov/en
- immigrationequality.org/legal-help-inquiry-form
- immigrationequality.org/selfhelp/self-help-manuals/selfhelp-ma…
- srlp.org/legal-services
- nyc.gov/site/immigrants/legal-resources/moia-immigration-legal…
- dos.ny.gov/office-new-americans
- justice.gov/eoir/can-someone-represent-you-eoir
- nyc.gov/site/immigrants/legal-resources/avoid-immigration-serv…
- ag.ny.gov/resources/individuals/consumer-issues/immigration-se…
- uscis.gov/i-589
- uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-and-asylum/asylum
- uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-and-asylum/asylum/preparing-fo…
- uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-and-asylum/asylum/what-happens…
- justice.gov/eoir/recognition-accreditation-roster-reports
- justice.gov/eoir/list-of-currently-disciplined-practitioners
- uscis.gov/forms
- nycourts.gov
- ag.ny.gov/file-complaint/consumer