Utica, NY Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

An application for asylum must be filed within 1 year from the date of entry into the U.S. There are some exceptions from this rule, mainly for the cases where the reason for an asylum claim did not arise until recently (for example, a few months ago, while you were in the U.S., there was a military coup in your country, and you cannot safely return there because you were a political activist of the party that is now outlawed by the military junta that came to power). Other exceptions exist, too, but courts treat the 1-year rule very strictly. If your claim for asylum is barred by the 1-year rule, you might qualify for a withholding of removal or for protection under the international Convention Against Torture.

More information is needed. Will the attorney completed the State Department reports, scan/mail the documentation and pay the additional State Department filing fees for that consular processing fee? Simply filling out the form to serve as agent and actually preparing all of the additional forms and materials for State Department processing (DS-230 (2 times) I-864 (two times), which are separate from the USCIS petition that your attorney already prepared is additional work. Make sure that the attorney is including all of the consular processing work that must be done at the National Visa Center for that fee. If not, then this may be an issue. Otherwise, then this seems appropriate and even very reasonable. Yet, if your attorney never told you that you were going to pay additional for processing with the State Department, then that decision not to discuss that consular processing is separate can prove disappointing and for some frustrating.