The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) last week announced that notices have been sent to those individuals in the United States with conditional grants of asylum based on resistance to a coercive population control program (CPC) who now are fully eligible for all asylum benefits.  The spouses and children of these individuals also are eligible for all asylum benefits if they were properly included in the application for asylum (Form I-589) as dependents and if they reside in the United States. 

The law specifically limits the number of individuals who can be granted asylum on grounds related to CPC to 1,000 per fiscal year.  Asylum is granted to such individuals on a conditional basis by Immigration Judges an by the Board of Immigration Appeals in EOIR, or by Asylum Officers in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security.  Because the number of individuals who annually establish eligibility for asylum based on CPC has been greater than 1,000, these individuals are placed on a waiting list and remain in conditional grant status until one of the 1,000 final approval authorization numbers becomes available.  More than 9,000 asylum applicants currently are on the waiting list.  Consequently, for those who were granted conditional asylum during FY 2004, the waiting period for full asylum benefits is approximately 9 years. 

Persons who were granted conditional asylum on or before September 15, 2000, but who have not received a notice regarding final asylum approval, should check on the status of their final asylum approval, if they have not already done so, by sending a letter to the appropriate address specified below.  The letter should include

• Full name of the person who filed the asylum application and has been granted conditional asylum,
• His or her date of birth,
• His or her alien number,
• His or her current address, and
• A copy of the order for letter granting conditional asylum.

If an Immigration Judge issued the conditional grant of asylum, status inquiries must be sent to:

Office of the Chief Immigration Judge

          Attn: CPC Status Inquiry

          5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2500

          Falls Church, VA 22041

If the Board of Immigration Appeals issued the conditional grant of asylum, status inquiries must be sent to:

          Board of Immigration Appeals

          Clerk’s Office

          Attn: CPC Status Inquiry

          Post Office Box 8530

          Falls Church, VA 22041

If a USCIS Asylum Officer issued the conditional grant of asylum, status inquiries must be sent to the USCIS Asylum Office that has jurisdiction over the conditional grantee’s residence.  The USCIS Web site at http://uscis.gov/graphics/fieldoffices/alphaa.htm provides the jurisdiction and addresses of the eight USCIS Asylum Offices.

Persons who remain in conditional asylum status must comply with any requests to appear for fingerprinting and biometrics or other background clearance procedures.  They also must provide any changes of address promptly in the following manner:

If an Immigration Judge issued the conditional grant of asylum, individuals must submit to the Immigration Court that last had jurisdiction over their case a completed Form EOIR-33/IJ, “Change of Address Form,” within 5 days of any change of address.  Addresses for the Immigration Courts can be found on the EOIR web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/sibpages/Icadr.htm.  The also must submit a completed Form AR-11, “Alien’s Change of Address Card,” within 10 days of any change of address to the Department of Homeland Security at the address indicated in the form instructions.

If the Board of Immigration Appeals issued the conditional grant of asylum, individuals must submit a completed Form EOIR-33/BIA, “Change of Address Form,” within five days of any change of address to the above mentioned Board of Immigration Appeals Clerk’s Office.  They also must submit a completed Form AR-11, “Alien’s Change of Address Card,” within 10 days of any change of address to the Department of Homeland Security at the address indicated in the form instructions.

If a USCIS Asylum officer issued the conditional grant of asylum, individuals must submit to the Department of Homeland Security at the address indicated in the form instructions a completed Form AR-11, to the USCIS Asylum Office that has jurisdiction over their residence. 

Additional information about CPC ad asylum is available on the USICS Web site at http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/asylum/cpc.htm.