U.S. Department of Justice
Executive Office for Immigration Review
Office of the Director
5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2600
Falls Church, Virginia 22041

NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Public Affairs Office
(703) 305-0289, Fax: (703) 605-0365
Internet: www.usdoj.gov/eoir

• Fact Sheet

September 30, 2003

EOIR Notifies Persons Eligible for Full Asylum Benefits for Fiscal Year 2003 Based on Coercive Population Control Policies

FALLS CHURCH, VA – The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) today 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. (To receive asylum benefits as dependents, children must be under 21 years of age or classified as children under the Child Status Protection Act.)

The law specifically limits the number of individuals who can be granted asylum on grounds related to CPC to 1,000 per fiscal year (FY). Asylum is granted to such individuals on a conditional basis by Immigration Judges and by the Board of Immigration Appeals in EOIR, or by Asylum Officers in the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) of the Department of Homeland Security (formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service). 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 7,000 asylum applicants currently are on the waiting list. Consequently, for those who were granted conditional asylum during FY 2003, the waiting period for full asylum benefits is approximately 7 years.

Each fiscal year, EOIR and CIS chronologically arrange all conditional asylum grants by the date of the conditional grant, convert no more than 1,000 to full asylum grants, and then notify the grantees by mail. Final approval for full asylum benefits cannot be issued in an individual case until the required identity, background, and security checks have been completed for the principal applicant and for all included dependent family members in the United States.

The CIS has issued approximately 800 of the 1,000 FY 2003 final approval authorization numbers. Most individuals who were conditionally granted asylum by EOIR or CIS on or before April 19, 2000, and whose identity, background, and security checks have been updated and cleared, have been notified of eligibility for full asylum benefits.

Because of additional security check requirements for FY 2003, the process of issuing the 1,000 final asylum approvals has taken longer than in previous years, and final approvals are being issued in smaller groups than in the past. CIS is closely monitoring the results of the security checks and is issuing final approvals of asylum, as individuals receive their security clearances, up to the 1,000 annual cap.

Status Inquiries
Persons who were granted conditional asylum on or before April 19, 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 or letter granting conditional asylum.

When the conditional grant of asylum was issued by an Immigration Judge, 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

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

Board of Immigration Appeals
Clerk’s Office
Attn: CPC Status Inquiry
Post Office Box 8530
5201 Leesburg Pike, Suite 1300
Falls Church, VA 22041 Phone: 703-605-1007

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

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

When the conditional grant of asylum was issued by an Immigration Judge, 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. 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.

When the conditional grant of asylum was issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals, individuals must submit a completed Form EOIR-33/BIA, “Change of Address Form,” within 5 days of any change of address to the address below:

Board of Immigration Appeals
Clerk’s Office
Post Office Box 8530
5201 Leesburg Pike, Suite 1300
Falls Church, VA 22041 Phone: 703-605-1007

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.

When the conditional grant of asylum was issued by a CIS Asylum Officer, individuals must submit to the Department of Homeland Security at the address indicated in the form instructions a completed Form AR-11, “Alien’s Change of Address Card,” within 10 days of any change of address. They also should send a copy of their completed Form AR-11 to the CIS Asylum Office that has jurisdiction over their residence. The CIS Web site at http://www.bcis.gov/graphics/fieldoffices/alphaa.htm provides the jurisdiction and addresses of the eight CIS Asylum Offices.

Change of address forms are available as follows:

• Forms EOIR-33/IJ and EOIR-33/BIA are available on the EOIR Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/formslist.htm, and
• Form AR-11 is available at local post offices, CIS offices, and on the CIS Web site at http://www.bcis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/ar-11.htm.

Note: Failure to notify the Government of a change of address, as specified above, may result in ineligibility for a final grant of asylum.

For More Information
Additional information about CPC and asylum is available on the CIS Web site at http://www.bcis.gov/graphics/services/asylum/cpc.htm. News releases and a fact sheet regarding the annual issuance of full asylum benefits based on CPC are available on EOIR’s Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/press/press.htm.

Individuals who have received final asylum approval notices may obtain information about their benefits and responsibilities on the CIS Web site at http://www.bcis.gov/graphics/services/asylum/types.htm#grant.

– EOIR –