 State Letter #00-22
TO: STATE
REFUGEE COORDINATORS
NATIONAL VOLUNTARY AGENCIES
MUTUAL ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATIONS
OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES
FROM: Lavinia
Limon, Director
Office of Refugee Resettlement
SUBJECT: Conditional Grants of Asylum
Individuals granted asylum on a conditional basis will not be eligible for refugee assistance and services until they receive an outright grant of asylum. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) expanded the definition of a refugee to include individuals who have been subject to or have a well-founded fear of being subject to coercive population control methods such as forced abortion or involuntary sterilization. When Congress added the provision concerning coercive population control, it limited the number of individuals who could receive asylum on this basis to 1,000 per fiscal year. Soon after the implementation of IIRIRA, the number of individuals receiving asylum based on their fear of coercive population control exceeded 1,000 per year. At that time, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) created a "queue" of individuals who met the definition of a refugee due to their fear of coercive population control but for whom a number was not available to allow the individuals to receive an outright grant of asylum. The individuals in the "queue" have been granted asylum conditionally and must wait until numbers are available to receive an actual grant and to become fully eligible for all asylum benefits.
Documentation
When numbers become available, EOIR and INS send out notices to inform conditional grantees that the condition has been removed from their asylum grant and that they are fully eligible for asylum benefits. Individuals who are granted asylum by an INS Asylum Office also will receive an Asylum Approval Letter and an I-94 Arrival/Departure Card. The date on the Asylum Approval Letter and the I-94 Arrival/Departure Card will serve as the individual's "entry" date. (See State Letter #00-15 for more information on asylee eligibility.) Individuals who are granted asylum by an Immigration Judge or by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) do not receive an Asylum Approval Letter or I-94 Arrival/Departure Card. The date on their notices will serve as their "entry" date for ORR benefits eligibility purposes.
|
Grant |
Documentation |
"Entry" Date |
|---|---|---|
|
By INS Asylum Office |
Asylum Approval Letter; I-94 Arrival/Departure Card |
Date in the text of the Asylum Approval Letter; Date on the I-94 Arrival/Departure Card |
|
By Immigration Judge |
Notice from EOIR Office of the Chief Immigration Judge that condition has been lifted and individual has an outright, actual grant of asylum |
Date on the notice |
|
By Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) |
Notice from EOIR Board of Immigration Appeals that condition has been lifted and individual has an outright, actual grant of asylum |
Date on the notice |
ORR will provide notification if there are any changes by INS or EOIR to the documentation or policy concerning conditional grants of asylum. If you have questions about this State Letter, please call AnnaMarie Bena at (202) 260-5186 or send an e-mail to abena@acf.dhhs.gov.
Enclosures:
(1) Sample Notice from EOIR lifting the condition from an asylum grant by an Immigration Judge
(2) Sample Notice from EOIR lifting the condition from an asylum grant by the Board of Immigration Appeals
(3) August 2, 2000 EOIR News Release on Conditional Asylum Grants