HOW TO APPLY FOR ASYLUM - The Florence Project

people because they are homosexual, and you are a homosexual and have been persecuted or fear persecution,
you may qualify for asylum or withholding.
Women in some countries may be part of a social group if they are mistreated because they are
women and especially if they oppose the mistreatment. For example, in some countries, there is a practice of
cutting women in the genitals once they reach a certain age. If you are afraid to return to your country
because you fear this or some other serious mistreatment because you are a woman and you do not agree with
that mistreatment, you may qualify for asylum or withholding.
--Your race. Many people are mistreated because of their race. If you have been persecuted
or are in danger because of your skin color, origin, or background, you may qualify for asylum or
withholding.
--Your religion. Many people are mistreated because of their religion. If you are not allowed to practice
your religion, or if you are mistreated because of your religious beliefs, you may qualify for asylum or
withholding.
--Your nationality. Nationality can mean the country you originally came from or your country of citizenship.
One example would be if you are a citizen of El Salvador but you live in Honduras, and you are persecuted
because you are Salvadoran.
To qualify for asylum, you must establish that your race, religion, nationality, particular social group or
political opinion was or will be at least one central reason for the persecution you fear or experienced.
• Does the person or people I am afraid of have to be in the government
No. The person or people you fear can be the army, police, soldiers, elected officials, or death squads, but they
can also be a group that the government cannot or is not willing to control, such as guerrillas or some other
opposition group, the civil patrol, or any other group that the government cannot or is not willing to control.
• What if I am threatened or mistreated for personal reasons
If someone persecutes you only for personal reasons, you do not qualify for asylum or withholding. For
example, if you have debts, and the people who loaned you the money are after you for that reason, that is not a
basis for claiming asylum or withholding. Even if the person who loaned you the money is a soldier, the
problem may be strictly personal, between the two of you.
However, if someone is after you for various reasons, not all of which are personal, you may qualify. For
example, if the soldier who loaned you the money threatens to tell the military that you are a subversive, it may
be that you will be persecuted for political reasons (because the government will think that you are an enemy of
the state) and then you might indeed qualify for asylum or withholding.
• What if I was persecuted in the past for one of these reasons, but will not be persecuted for one of
these reasons if I go back to my country
There are two possible ways you might win asylum.
1. The Immigration Judge or DHS finds that you have suffered such horrible persecution that you should
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FIRRP- last update June 2007