Form I-589 is the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services application for asylum and for withholding of removal, and it is the single form that lets you request three separate protections: asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal You generally must file within one year of your last arrival in the United States, and since 2025 the form carries both a filing fee and a $100 annual fee for each year your case remains pending.
Who Qualifies for Asylum
To qualify for asylum, you must show a well-founded fear of persecution in your home country based on one of five protected grounds: race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions You do not have to prove persecution is guaranteed. The “well-founded fear” standard has a subjective side (you genuinely fear returning) and an objective side (a reasonable person in your situation would also fear returning), and you can qualify with less than a 50 percent chance of persecution as long as the risk is real and not speculative.
“Particular social group” is the most heavily litigated ground. Claims based on family membership, gender-based violence, gang targeting, or sexual orientation often fall under this category, but the group must be defined by characteristics its members either cannot change or should not be required to change. If your fear does not fit one of the five grounds, you may still qualify for withholding of removal or Convention Against Torture protection on the same form.
The One-Year Filing Deadline
File Form I-589 within one year of your most recent arrival in the United States. The statute requires you to prove timely filing by clear and convincing evidence.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1158 – Asylum Missing the deadline can make you completely ineligible for asylum, not just weaken your case. Two narrow exceptions exist:
- Changed circumstances in your home country or in your own situation that materially affect your eligibility, such as a new government crackdown on your ethnic group or your conversion to a persecuted religion.
- Extraordinary circumstances beyond your control that directly caused the delay. Federal regulations recognize serious illness or disability, being an unaccompanied minor, ineffective assistance from a prior attorney, and maintaining lawful immigration status.
Unaccompanied children are exempt from the one-year deadline entirely. Even if you miss the deadline and cannot show an exception, you can still apply for withholding of removal or Convention Against Torture protection on the same form, because neither is subject to the one-year bar.
Bars That Can Block Your Claim
Meeting the refugee definition is not enough on its own. USCIS distinguishes bars that prevent you from applying at all from bars that prevent a grant even if the application is accepted for review.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Asylum Bars
You cannot apply for asylum at all if an immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals previously denied an asylum application from you, or if you can be removed to a safe third country under an agreement with the United States. The one-year deadline itself is also a bar to applying.
You can be barred from a grant of asylum if any of the following apply:
- You participated in persecuting others based on a protected ground.
- You were convicted of a particularly serious crime that makes you a danger to the community. Aggravated felonies almost always trigger this bar.
- You committed a serious nonpolitical crime outside the United States.
- You pose a danger to U.S. national security.
- You were firmly resettled in another country before arriving here.
- You engaged in, incited, or materially supported terrorist activity, or belong to a designated terrorist organization.
These bars apply specifically to asylum. Even if one blocks your asylum claim, you may still qualify for withholding of removal or Convention Against Torture protection, though the persecutor bar and certain criminal bars reach those forms of relief as well.
Withholding of Removal and Convention Against Torture
The same form covers two other protections, and understanding the differences matters because applicants who lose on asylum often win on one of them.
Withholding of removal blocks the government from deporting you to a country where your life or freedom would be threatened because of a protected ground. The standard is higher than for asylum: you must show it is “more likely than not” that you would face persecution.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1231 – Detention and Removal of Aliens Ordered Removed The protection is also narrower. It does not lead to a green card, does not allow travel abroad, and does not let you petition for family members. The government can still remove you to a different country where you would not face persecution.
Convention Against Torture protection applies when you can show it is more likely than not that you would be tortured by or with the consent of a government official if returned to a specific country. Unlike asylum and withholding, CAT protection does not require the torture to be connected to one of the five protected grounds, and it cannot be denied based on your criminal history.6eCFR. 8 CFR 1208.17 – Deferral of Removal Under the Convention Against Torture It also provides the least stability: deferral of removal under CAT gives you no lawful immigration status, can be terminated if country conditions improve, and does not stop the government from removing you to a different country.
Completing the Form
Form I-589 is available for free download from the USCIS website. The form has several parts. Part A collects biographical details, travel history, immigration status, and information about your spouse and children. Part B asks about past harm and why you are seeking protection. Part C covers your background, organizational memberships, and history with authorities. Part D focuses on the specifics of your fear and why you cannot safely return. Parts E through G handle signatures and information about anyone who helped prepare the form.
Every answer must be truthful. Providing false information on an immigration application can make you permanently inadmissible to the United States.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
Your Personal Declaration
The most important piece of the application is a detailed written statement explaining what happened to you or what you fear will happen. Tell the story in chronological order, covering who harmed or threatened you, when it happened, why you believe it was tied to a protected ground, and what you think would happen if you returned. Dates, names, and locations matter. If your declaration says one thing and the form says another, the asylum officer will see the inconsistency, and credibility problems are one of the fastest ways to lose a case.
Supporting Evidence
Strong applications include documents that corroborate your account. Useful materials include:
- Identity documents such as a passport, birth certificate, or national identity card.
- Country condition reports from the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations, or established human rights organizations.
- Evidence of past harm, including medical records, police reports, photographs of injuries, or news articles about specific incidents.
- Witness statements from people who can confirm your account or describe conditions in your country.
Any document not in English must include a complete English translation and a signed certificate from the translator stating that they are competent in both languages and that the translation is accurate. The translator does not need to be a professional. Certified translations for immigration documents typically cost $20 to $40 per page.
Organize the package with a table of contents and tabbed exhibits, and include a short cover letter summarizing your legal basis and listing the attached documents.
Where and How to File
How you file depends on whether you are in removal proceedings. If you are not in proceedings before an immigration judge, you file an “affirmative” application with USCIS. If you are already in removal proceedings, you file a “defensive” application directly with the immigration court.
Most affirmative applicants can file Form I-589 online through their USCIS account or by mail. You must file by mail rather than online if you are or were classified as an unaccompanied child, if your removal proceedings were previously dismissed or terminated, or if DHS issued you a Notice to Appear that was never filed with the immigration court.
If filing by mail, the destination depends on where you live. Applicants in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or Texas mail the application to the USCIS Dallas Lockbox. Applicants in all other states and territories use the USCIS Chicago Lockbox. Specific addresses change periodically, so confirm them on the USCIS I-589 page before mailing.
Including Family Members
Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 who are in the United States can be listed on your Form I-589 as derivative applicants. If your case is approved, they receive asylum status automatically, provided the relationship existed at the time asylum was granted. Family members abroad cannot be included on the form. After you receive asylum, you can file Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition, to bring a spouse and unmarried children under 21 to the United States. That petition must be filed within two years of your asylum grant, though USCIS can waive the deadline for humanitarian reasons.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition Instructions
Filing Fees and the Annual Asylum Fee
Form I-589 used to have no filing fee. That changed in 2025 when Public Law 119-21 amended the asylum fee provisions to require USCIS to impose fees on asylum applications. A filing fee now applies to Form I-589, and if USCIS rejects an improperly filed form, the agency keeps the fee. Check the USCIS I-589 page for the current amount, since it may be adjusted.
The same law created an Annual Asylum Fee of $100, paid online for each calendar year your application remains pending. The fee kicks in once your application has been pending for 365 days and applies to anyone who filed or files Form I-589 after October 1, 2024. It applies only to the principal applicant, not to derivative family members listed on the same form.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Updates Fees Based on HR 1
After You File
USCIS should send a written receipt notice within a few weeks. The notice includes a unique receipt number you can use to track your case through the USCIS online portal or Contact Center. Shortly after, USCIS issues a biometrics appointment notice directing you to a local Application Support Center for fingerprints and photographs, which feed into FBI background checks and other screenings that must clear before your interview is scheduled.
Reporting Address Changes
If you move while your case is pending, you must notify USCIS within 10 days by filing Form AR-11 online or by mail.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. AR-11, Aliens Change of Address Card Interview notices and decision letters get mailed to the address on file. If USCIS sends a notice to an old address and you miss the interview, the consequences can be severe.
Travel Restrictions
Leaving the United States without advance permission while your application is pending will cause USCIS to treat your application as abandoned. If you must travel, first file Form I-131 and receive an advance parole document. Even with advance parole, returning to the country where you claim persecution creates a presumption that you have abandoned your asylum application, and you can overcome that presumption only by showing compelling reasons for the trip.11eCFR. 8 CFR 1208.8 – Limitations on Travel Outside the United States
Work Authorization While Your Case Is Pending
Filing Form I-589 does not authorize you to work. Work authorization requires a separate filing. You may submit Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, 150 days after filing your asylum application, using eligibility category (c)(8).12U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Application for Employment Authorization, Form I-765 USCIS cannot approve the work permit until the asylum case has been pending for at least 180 days. Delays you request or cause, such as asking to reschedule your interview, do not count toward the 150- and 180-day clocks.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The 180-Day Asylum EAD Clock Notice
You can request a Social Security number by completing the relevant section of Form I-765. If your work authorization is approved, USCIS sends your data to the Social Security Administration, and the card typically arrives within about seven business days of your Employment Authorization Document.14U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Apply for Your Social Security Number While Applying for Your Work Permit If you skip that section, you will need to visit a Social Security office after your EAD arrives.
The Asylum Interview
USCIS uses a “last in, first out” scheduling approach: recently filed applications receive priority, with the agency aiming to interview new cases within 21 days of filing, while older cases are worked from a separate queue.15U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Affirmative Asylum Interview Scheduling Border enforcement workload and litigation obligations affect USCIS’s ability to hit these targets, and many applicants wait significantly longer.
The interview happens at a regional asylum office. An asylum officer asks detailed questions about the events in your declaration, testing consistency and specificity. If you are not fluent in English, you must bring your own competent interpreter; USCIS does not provide one.16U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Preparing for Your Affirmative Asylum Interview
You have the right to bring an attorney or accredited representative, but the government does not pay for one. Both you and your representative must file Form G-28 with USCIS beforehand. If your attorney cannot attend and USCIS denies your request to reschedule, you face a choice: proceed without your attorney or accept referral to immigration court. Attorney fees for full representation in an affirmative case typically range from $4,000 to $20,000 or more, and free or low-cost representation is available through legal aid organizations and law school clinics in many areas.
Possible Outcomes
The asylum officer weighs your testimony against your documentation and current country conditions. A written decision usually arrives by mail within a few weeks of the interview, though complex cases take longer. The main outcomes are:
- A grant of asylum, which lets you live and work in the United States, travel with a refugee travel document, and include derivative family members. After one year of physical presence as an asylee, you become eligible to apply for a green card.17U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card for Asylees
- Referral to immigration court, which happens if the officer is not persuaded and you do not have lawful status. This is not a final denial. You get to present your case again to an immigration judge, with the ability to call witnesses, submit additional evidence, and respond to the government’s arguments.
- A Notice of Intent to Deny, which gives you a chance to respond to specific concerns before a final decision.
- A recommended approval, where the grant becomes final only after supervisory review.
Many applicants referred to immigration court ultimately win before a judge. The defensive process is more formal and adversarial, but it also carries procedural protections that the affirmative interview does not.
Penalties for Frivolous Applications
Filing a knowingly frivolous asylum application carries one of the harshest consequences in immigration law: permanent ineligibility for any immigration benefit. “Frivolous” here does not mean weak or unsuccessful. It means you deliberately fabricated material elements of your claim. The penalty takes effect only after a final determination and only if you were warned about the consequences of filing a frivolous application at the time you filed. USCIS provides this warning as part of the filing process.
The bar is permanent. Unlike most immigration penalties, it cannot be overcome with a waiver, the passage of time, or changed circumstances, and it closes the door to asylum, green cards, visas, and virtually every other form of immigration relief for life. If you are unsure whether your claim has legal merit, consult with an attorney before filing.