On April 1, 1998, a new one-year filing deadline on asylum claims will become law mandating that all asylum applicants file within one year of arrival in the United States unless they can prove “exceptional circumstances” for their failure to file such as a change in the circumstances in one’s country.
This means that anyone who on April 1st will have been in the US longer than one year will no longer be able to apply for asylum in most cases. Therefore, it is of the upmost importance that persons who came to the US before April of 1997 prepare and file their credible asylum claims this month. After that date, only persons in the US for less than a year can file.
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