Asylum: where to find official information

Step 1 — Find out which office has your case

Two federal agencies decide asylum cases:

• USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) runs the affirmative process: you apply when you are not in removal proceedings, and an asylum officer may interview you in a “non-adversarial” interview, not a courtroom (USCIS — Obtaining Asylum).
• The immigration courts, run by the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), handle the defensive process: asking for asylum “as a defense against removal” in removal proceedings, before a judge and a government attorney (USCIS — Obtaining Asylum).
• A third path, the Asylum Merits Interview, follows some “credible fear” screenings after arrival (USCIS — Obtaining Asylum).

Not sure where your case is? If you have an A-Number (an “A” followed by 8 or 9 digits, printed on DHS and EOIR letters), look it up in EOIR’s Automated Case Information system, or call 800-898-7180 (TDD 800-828-1120) or 304-625-2050 (USCIS — I-589). If it shows your name and a next hearing date, you are in court proceedings, and USCIS says an asylum application must then be filed with the court, except for some unaccompanied children (USCIS — I-589).

Step 2 — Get Form I-589 and its instructions

Both paths use Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal (USCIS — I-589).

• Download it free, with instructions, from the I-589 page. On October 28, 2026, the page listed the 07/28/26 edition, and USCIS may reject a form with missing pages or pages from different editions (USCIS — I-589).
• Translations in 12 languages are for reading only: USCIS accepts only the English form, completed in English (USCIS — I-589).
• Where and how to file: USCIS’s Filing Instructions Tool shows whether you may file online or by mail, and where; it “does not determine whether you are eligible for asylum” (USCIS — I-589).
• Time limit: USCIS says to file within 1 year of your last arrival, with exceptions for “changed circumstances” or “extraordinary circumstances” (USCIS — The Affirmative Asylum Process); this applies in court too (USCIS — Asylum). Only a lawyer or accredited representative can tell you how it applies to you.
• Fees: a 2025 law known as H.R. 1 created a filing fee for asylum applications that cannot be waived or reduced (Federal Register, July 22, 2025), plus an Annual Asylum Fee (AAF) for each year an application stays pending, also with no waiver (USCIS — I-589). The amounts change every year, most recently on October 16, 2026 (Federal Register, October 1, 2026; USCIS, September 30, 2026); check them only on the USCIS Fee Schedule.
  • With USCIS: a notice tells you the amount and how to pay; payment is online only, and “as long as your AAF remains payable, USCIS cannot approve your asylum application” (USCIS — I-589).
  • In court: the judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals issues a written order about the AAF, and you pay through the EOIR Payment Portal; EOIR stopped accepting checks and money orders on February 23, 2026 (EOIR — Fees).
  • Court-ordered exceptions for some groups are explained in the alerts on the I-589 page.

Step 3 — Check where your case stands

• With USCIS: use Case Status Online with the receipt number from the notice USCIS mailed you (USCIS — Asylum): three letters and 10 numbers, typed without dashes (USCIS — Case Status Online).
• With the immigration court: use Automated Case Information or the hotline in Step 1. It won’t show a new hearing date until the court sets one, and court documents such as hearing notices are “the official source of information on case status” (EOIR — Check Case Status).
• Your asylum office: find it with the Asylum Office Locator (USCIS — Asylum). Asylum offices don’t accept walk-ins; ask for an appointment through the Contact Center (USCIS — Contact Center).
• Holds and court orders: USCIS memos from December 2025 and January 2026 put asylum applications on hold (USCIS, March 30, 2026). A court vacated those memos on June 5, 2026 (USCIS, June 12, 2026), and another blocked them on August 24, 2026; USCIS says it disagrees and “will issue updated instructions” (USCIS, August 28, 2026). These alerts can’t tell you how one case will go.

Step 4 — Read every notice and keep every appointment

USCIS changed several asylum procedures on August 21, 2026 (USCIS — Asylum):

• Interviews: USCIS reschedules only for “exceptional circumstances”, and you must ask before the interview or within 10 calendar days after missing it. It no longer sends a warning after a missed interview; missing one may lead to dismissal or referral to an immigration judge (USCIS — Asylum).
• Evidence: everything must reach the asylum office 14 calendar days before your interview (USCIS — Asylum).
• Biometrics (fingerprints and photo): after a missed appointment, you have 10 calendar days to ask for a new one and show exceptional circumstances (USCIS — The Affirmative Asylum Process).

Once USCIS has accepted your form, send new evidence and letters to your local asylum office, not to the filing address (USCIS — I-589). And you usually must bring your own interpreter to a USCIS affirmative interview, while USCIS provides one for an Asylum Merits Interview and the court provides one in court (USCIS — Obtaining Asylum). What to bring: Preparing for Your Affirmative Asylum Interview.

Unclear notice? Contact a legal provider (Step 7) the same week.

Step 5 — Update your address with every office

• USCIS: within 10 days of moving; USCIS strongly encourages using your USCIS online account (USCIS — Change of Address). The I-589 instructions also mention Form AR-11 or a signed, dated letter while your case is with the asylum office (USCIS — Form I-589 instructions).
• Immigration court: within five working days, on Form EOIR-33/IC (EOIR-33/BIA for the Board of Immigration Appeals) or online through Respondent Access, one form for each person (EOIR — Update Respondent Information). People in court must tell both the court and USCIS (USCIS — Form I-589 instructions).
• The Post Office: changing your address with USPS doesn’t change it with USCIS (USCIS — Change of Address).

Asking to transfer your case to another asylum office, even because you moved, is a delay USCIS doesn’t count toward the work-permit waiting period (USCIS — Asylum). Full steps: changing your address.

Step 6 — Find the official rules on work permits

A work permit (Employment Authorization Document, or EAD) based on a pending asylum application is requested on Form I-765, category (c)(8) (USCIS — Asylum). USCIS explains the waiting period, which it calls the “180-Day Asylum EAD Clock”, in the “Permission to Work” section of its Asylum page and on the I-765 page. Delays you request or cause don’t count toward it (USCIS — Asylum). H.R. 1 also created a fee for an asylum applicant’s first EAD (Federal Register, July 22, 2025). More: work permits explained.

Step 7 — Get free legal help early

The I-589 instructions call asylum law “complex”. You have the right to a lawyer or representative at your interview and in court, but “at no cost to the U.S. Government”, so the government doesn’t pay for one (USCIS — Form I-589 instructions).

• EOIR’s List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers: nonprofits and attorneys who have committed to at least 50 hours a year of free services at a specific immigration court. It is updated every quarter and given to people in court proceedings (EOIR — Pro Bono List). USCIS says you can also get a list by calling 800-375-5283 (USCIS — Form I-589 instructions).
• UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, “may be able to assist you in identifying individuals who can help you complete your Form I-589”: 202-296-5191 (USCIS — Preparing for Your Interview).
• Form G-28: you and your representative must file it before they can come to your USCIS interview (USCIS — Preparing for Your Interview).

Checking a helper: free immigration legal help.