The application filed with the court.
Defensive asylum is requested within proceedings before the immigration court: the same Form I-589 is filed with the judge, as a defense against removal.
In a case before the court, the deadlines are set by the judge and cannot be missed. We prepare the file and keep track of those dates; if your case requires legal representation at the hearing, we tell you so from the first appointment.
It is the path to request asylum when you are already in removal proceedings. It is not filed with USCIS but before an immigration judge, and it works as a defense: you ask the court not to deport you because returning to your country would put you in danger.
The form is the same as in affirmative asylum, the I-589, and so are the substantive requirements: persecution or a well-founded fear of it because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. What changes is the setting, and with it, the pace and the rules.
We want to be clear. In the United States our service is document preparation: we do not represent you before the immigration court or speak for you before the judge. We have attorneys licensed in Colombia, not in the United States.
In removal proceedings we recommend having an immigration attorney licensed in the United States or an accredited representative. It is not mandatory, but the difference can be decisive. Our job is to make sure the file reaches whoever represents you, or you if you decide to defend yourself, complete, organized, and on time.
You can arrive on this path in several ways: because you were stopped at the border or inside the country and received a Notice to Appear; because you applied for affirmative asylum, it was not approved, and USCIS referred your case to the court; or because you already had proceedings open for another reason.
The key document is the Notice to Appear: it states the charges the government is bringing and opens the case before the court. If you have one, your path is defensive. Keep it together with every letter the court sends you: the dates of your hearings and the deadlines to file documents come from there, and a misread date cannot be recovered.
This is a short hearing, usually with many people scheduled on the same day. The judge reviews the charges, asks whether you have representation and what defense you will present, and sets the next dates, including the deadline for filing the I-589 and the evidence.
This is the trial of your case. You testify under oath, present your evidence and witnesses, and an attorney for the Department of Homeland Security may cross-examine you and challenge your story. At the end, the judge decides, sometimes that same day and sometimes later in writing.
The judge can grant asylum. If not, the judge can grant other forms of protection usually requested on the same form: withholding of removal, which prevents you from being sent to the country where you are in danger but gives fewer benefits than asylum, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. Or the judge can order removal.
If the decision goes against you, it can be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). The deadline to appeal is very short, so you must act as soon as the decision is received.
In affirmative asylum you start the process before USCIS and an officer decides after a private interview. In defensive asylum the case is already before the court, there is a government attorney on the other side, and a judge decides after a formal hearing.
You do not choose one or the other: if you have open removal proceedings, the path is defensive. And in court the deadlines are stricter: a document filed late may not be accepted.
The most serious: not showing up to a hearing. Missing one can end in a removal order issued in your absence. Next comes not notifying the court of a change of address, which is exactly what makes the next notice never reach you.
Also: filing the I-589 or the evidence after the date set by the judge, submitting documents in another language without a certified translation, telling a story that does not match what you said earlier at the border or in the credible fear interview, and arriving at the individual hearing without having prepared your testimony.
At the first appointment we review your Notice to Appear, your dates, and what has already been filed, and tell you clearly which part we can do and what you need an attorney or accredited representative for.
Then we prepare the file: we transcribe Form I-589, help you organize your statement, arrange and translate the evidence, and keep track of every date the court sets. If you already have an attorney, we prepare the file in the format they request, so no time is lost reorganizing papers. We serve you in Spanish and English, online or in person.
Tell us about your case and we will explain clearly how to move forward. If it does not qualify, we tell you at the first appointment.
Juliana Gómez Altamirano · Attorney licensed in Colombia