You can bring your children to the United States if you have been granted political asylum. If you fled your home country without your children and you have been granted political asylum in the United States, you can bring your children. If you are in the United States for any reason but without your children, you can bring them after you have been granted political asylum. However, you have to file for them within two years of obtaining your political asylum status.
Accompanying vs. Following to Join
If you apply for political asylum and included your children in your initial application, they will receive the same status as you if your application is approved. In that event, your children will immigrate to the United States the same time as you or within four months of your immigration.
On the other hand, if you are in the United States but your children are abroad, you can still bring them to the United States if you included them in your in your original application for political asylum. Since they are not immigrating with you or coming within four months of your admission or grant of political asylum, they are considered as “following to join”. To bring your children as derivative beneficiaries, you must be the principal applicant.
Who is Considered a Child
For the purpose of accompanying or following to join, your relative must qualify as a child. To be a child, your relative must be less than 21 years of age at the time you completed your application for political asylum or at the time of your interview for political asylum. This assumes that you listed your child or children in your application for political asylum.
Eligibility Requirements
Your child must meet the following eligibility requirements:
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Your child must be under the age of 21
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Your child must be unmarried
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Your child must have been born or conceived before you were admitted
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Your child must not be subject to any of the mandatory asylum bars, including the persecutor bar
Application process
To apply for your children after you have been granted political asylum, you have to complete Form I-730.
Required documents
If you are filing for your child or children, you must provide the following documents:
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You must provide documents showing that you were granted Asylum
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Your Birth certificate
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Your marriage certificate
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Your child or children’s birth certificate
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Baptismal certificates – if you are unable to provide birth certificate, you should provide baptismal certificate showing the child’s baptism within 2 months of his/her birth, showing the date and place of birth, the date of baptism and the names of the child’s parents.
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School records – provide school records that shows the date admission, date of birth, place of birth and names of parents
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Census records – State or Federal census records showing name, place of birth and date of birth.
Filing fees
There is no filing fee associated with this application.
Waiver of the two years filing deadline
It is best to file this application within two years of being granted political asylum. However, if you fail to meet the deadline, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services may grant you a waiver for humanitarian reasons.