Humanitarian classification
I-589 Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal
Asylum packets are the largest documentary assemblies in immigration practice because country conditions evidence runs to hundreds of pages and must be indexed so an adjudicator can locate the specific passage that corroborates a specific paragraph of the declaration. A country conditions binder that is not cross-referenced to the declaration is functionally unusable at a hearing.
Governing standard
Well-founded fear of persecution on a protected ground
INA 208; 8 CFR 208.13
- Initial RFE rate
- n/a
- Median exhibit pages
- 420
- Manual assembly
- 20 hrs
- On Docket Build
- 50 min
Statutory criteria
What the record has to establish.
Each element below is a mapped criterion in the Docket Build criteria pack, with its citation and the evidence types that satisfy it.
Well-founded fear of persecution
8 CFR 208.13(b)
- Applicant declaration
- Corroborating witness statements
Protected ground nexus
INA 101(a)(42)
- Evidence of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or particular social group
Country conditions
8 CFR 208.12
- State Department reports
- NGO reports
- Expert declarations
- News reports with translations
One-year filing deadline or exception
INA 208(a)(2)(B)
- Entry evidence
- Changed or extraordinary circumstances evidence
Failure modes
What actually draws a request on a I-589.
Compiled from the request language our customers record on their own matters and from published AAO decisions in this classification.
Full RFE trends hub- Country conditions binder with no cross-reference index to the declaration
- Foreign-language exhibits without a translator's certificate
- Declaration dates that conflict with the supporting documents
- One-year filing issue not addressed anywhere in the submission
Document checklist
What a complete filing carries.
Full printable checklist →Applicant narrative
Signed applicant declaration
Chronological, with each event cross-referenced to an exhibit
Identity documents with translations
Passport, national ID, birth certificate
Entry evidence
Establishing the date of last arrival for the one-year rule
Corroboration
Witness declarationswhere applicable
Signed, with the declarant's relationship and knowledge stated
Medical and psychological evaluationswhere applicable
Where physical or psychological harm is claimed
Police, court and detention recordswhere applicable
With certified translations
Membership or activity evidencewhere applicable
Party membership, publications, social media with dates
Country conditions binder
State Department country reports
Most recent human rights and religious freedom reports
NGO and international body reports
Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, UNHCR
News reports with certified translations
Each tabbed and cross-referenced to a declaration paragraph
Expert declaration on country conditionswhere applicable
With the expert's CV attached
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