Asylum Bars: When You May Be Barred from Applying for or Receiving Asylum

Bars to Applying for Asylum

You may not be eligible to apply for asylum if you:

• Missed the one-year filing deadline: Did not file Form I-589 within one year of your last arrival in the United States or April 1, 1997, whichever is later;
• Prior denial: Had a previous asylum application denied by an immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals; or
• Safe third country: Can be removed to a safe third country under a bilateral or multilateral agreement between the United States and other countries.

There are exceptions to all three bars for changed circumstances or extraordinary circumstances, both defined in 8 CFR 208.4. Changed circumstances include changes in conditions in your home country or changes in applicable law. Extraordinary circumstances are those directly related to the failure to file on time, such as serious illness, legal disability, or ineffective assistance of counsel meeting the applicable standard.

Bars to a Grant of Asylum

Even if you are eligible to apply, you may be barred from receiving a grant of asylum if USCIS or an immigration judge finds that you:

• Persecutor: Ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution of any person on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion;
• Particularly serious crime: Were convicted of a particularly serious crime and are a danger to the community of the United States;
• Serious nonpolitical crime outside the US: Committed a serious nonpolitical crime outside the United States before arriving;
• Security danger: Pose a danger to the security of the United States; or
• Firm resettlement: Were firmly resettled in another country before arriving in the United States.

Terrorist Activity Bars

You will also be barred from receiving asylum if you are inadmissible to the United States because you:

• Have engaged in terrorist activity;
• Are engaged in or are likely to engage after entry in any terrorist activity;
• Have incited terrorist activity;
• Are a representative of a foreign terrorist organization;
• Are a member of a terrorist organization;
• Have persuaded others to support terrorist activity or a terrorist organization;
• Have received military-type training from or on behalf of any organization that was a terrorist organization at the time the training was received; or
• Are the spouse or child of an individual who is inadmissible on any of the above grounds, within the last 5 years.

For more information on terrorist and national security bars, including exceptions, see the USCIS page on Bars to Asylum and Inadmissibility Grounds Related to Terrorist Activity.