Asylum and Temporary Protected Status (TPS)

If you are afraid to return to your home country because of persecution, torture, or threats to your life or freedom, U.S. asylum law may protect you. If you are from a country whose conditions make safe return impossible, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) may allow you to stay in the United States legally with work authorization. These are different forms of protection — but they share one rule: timing and evidence matter enormously.

I am Anna Ignatenko McLean (formerly known as Anna Ignatenko McLean). I have practiced immigration law exclusively for 15+ years, representing clients in affirmative asylum cases before the USCIS Asylum Office, defensive asylum cases in immigration court, withholding of removal and Convention Against Torture (CAT) claims, and appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. I work with clients directly in English, Russian, and Spanish — privately, in your language.

Everything you tell me in our consultation is protected by attorney-client privilege, even if you do not ultimately hire me. Call (415) 212-9009 or email contact@aimimmigration.com.

What Is Asylum?

Asylum is legal protection for individuals already in the United States who fear returning to their home country. To qualify, you must demonstrate:

  1. Past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution;

  2. Harm connected to one of five protected grounds: race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group; and

  3. That the harm was caused by the government or by groups the government cannot control.

Critical deadline: You generally must file within one year of arrival in the United States. There are limited exceptions (such as changed personal or country circumstances), but the safer assumption is that the deadline is real. Do not wait.

What Asylum Does Not Cover

Asylum does not cover fleeing war, civil disturbance, widespread violence, unstable governments, discrimination, government corruption, or poor economic conditions alone. Applicants must show specific personal reasons for persecution — general statements about a country being dangerous are not sufficient.

How to Apply — Three Paths

1. Affirmatively — File with the USCIS Asylum Office

If you are inside the United States and not in removal proceedings, you file Form I-589 with USCIS and attend an interview at the Asylum Office. If granted, you receive asylum and can apply for a green card one year later.

2. At the Border — Request Asylum on Entry

If you arrive at the U.S. border or a port of entry and tell U.S. officials you fear returning home, you may be referred for a credible fear interview. If you pass, your case moves to immigration court for a defensive asylum hearing.

3. Defensively — In Immigration Court

If you are in removal proceedings, you can file asylum as a defense before the immigration judge. This applies even if your one-year deadline has passed, in which case I will assess whether withholding of removal or CAT protection applies as an alternative.

Benefits of Asylum

  1. Work authorization 150 days after filing your I-589 (with the work permit issued shortly after).

  2. Permission to remain in the United States legally while your case is pending.

  3. Eligibility to include your spouse and unmarried children under 21 as derivatives on your application.

  4. Eligibility to petition for your spouse and unmarried children abroad using Form I-730 (within 2 years of your grant).

  5. Eligibility to apply for a green card one year after your asylum grant.

  6. Eligibility for U.S. citizenship five years after becoming a permanent resident.

What Is Persecution?

Persecution is generally defined as the infliction of suffering or harm, or a serious threat to life or freedom. It includes death threats, torture, imprisonment, surveillance, forced participation in illegal activity, and severe discrimination in areas such as housing, education, or passport issuance. Mere harassment is not enough. The threat must be nationwide — applicants generally cannot be expected to relocate internally to avoid harm.

The Five Protected Grounds

Race, Religion, Nationality. These are self-explanatory categories.

Political Opinion. Holding views the authorities do not tolerate. Requires evidence that authorities knew of your opinions (public speaking, writing, protest participation). Can include LGBTQ rights advocacy, labor union activity, feminist views, or 'imputed political opinion' where authorities wrongly attribute opinions to you.

Membership in a Particular Social Group. The most complex category. Groups share fundamental characteristics members cannot change, have distinct boundaries, and are socially recognized. Examples include tribes, social classes, family relationships, women who have faced domestic violence, LGBTQ individuals, and witnesses to gang violence.

Does Persecution Need to Come from the Government?

No. Persecution by groups the government cannot control — such as guerrillas, paramilitary organizations, gangs, or vigilantes — qualifies if it has a political or social basis. Criminal persecution for purely personal reasons (a private debt, for example) does not qualify under asylum law.

Withholding of Removal and Convention Against Torture (CAT)

If you do not qualify for asylum — for example, because you missed the one-year deadline — you may still be eligible for withholding of removal or CAT protection. These are harder to win (the standard of proof is higher), but they prevent the government from removing you to a country where you would face persecution or torture. Withholding and CAT do not lead to a green card, but they prevent deportation.

Family Reunification After You Are Granted Asylum

If you are granted asylum, you may petition for your spouse and unmarried children under 21 abroad through Form I-730. This petition must be filed within 2 years of your asylum grant unless an exception applies.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS)

Temporary Protected Status protects nationals of designated countries from deportation when their home country is unsafe due to civil war, natural disaster, or other extraordinary conditions. TPS provides work authorization and, in some cases, permission to travel.

Countries currently designated for TPS include Ukraine, Burma (Myanmar), Venezuela, Syria, South Sudan, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Nicaragua, Nepal, Haiti, El Salvador, and Honduras (as of publication).

TPS country designations and re-registration deadlines change frequently. Always check the current USCIS TPS page — uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status — before assuming your country is still designated or that your registration window is open.

Why This Office for Your Asylum Case

You work with me, from start to finish. Asylum cases require building trust over months — sometimes years. You will share difficult, sometimes traumatic, details to prepare your declaration. The attorney who hears that story is the attorney who sits next to you at your Asylum Office interview or your Individual Hearing in immigration court. Larger firms often shuffle asylum cases between associates because of high staff turnover — by the time of your interview, you may be meeting a new attorney for the first time. That does not happen here. I prepare your declaration, I conduct your interview preparation, and I represent you on the day.

Three languages, no interpreter between us. Your declaration and your interview preparation happen directly in English, Russian, or Spanish — without a stranger interpreting your story.

Confidentiality. Everything you share is protected by attorney-client privilege. The U.S. government does not notify your home country that you have filed for asylum.

Frequently Asked Questions

I have been in the United States more than one year. Am I too late to file for asylum?

Possibly not. The one-year deadline has exceptions for changed personal circumstances (such as a new persecutor coming to power, a recent diagnosis of a condition that increases your risk, or coming out as LGBTQ) and for extraordinary circumstances (serious illness, ineffective prior counsel). Even if no exception applies, you may still qualify for withholding of removal or CAT protection.

Will the U.S. government tell my home country I am seeking asylum?

No. U.S. asylum proceedings are confidential. The U.S. government does not notify your home country that you have filed for asylum.

Can my family be included in my asylum application?

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 who are in the United States with you can be included as derivatives on your asylum application. Family members abroad can be petitioned for through Form I-730 after asylum is granted.

How long does an asylum case take?

Affirmative asylum cases at the USCIS Asylum Office can take from months to several years depending on the office and your nationality. Defensive cases in immigration court generally take 1–3+ years. Work authorization is typically available within months of filing.

What if I have already filed asylum on my own and it was denied?

If you filed affirmatively and were referred to immigration court, you can renew your asylum claim there. If you lost in immigration court, you have 30 days to file an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals. Contact me as soon as possible — these deadlines are strict.