It’s common these days to find asylum seekers at the Asylum Office and in Immigration Court who filed their asylum application, form I-589, five, six, seven or more years ago. During that time, some information on the form becomes out of date. Also, new events occur which need to be added to the form. What is the best and most efficient way to update your asylum application at the Asylum Office and in court?
Let’s start with the Asylum Office. At the beginning of the interview, the Asylum Officer (“AO”) will orally review the form I-589 with you. They generally only go over the first four pages, which contains your biographic information, including names and information about your spouse and children, your address, education, and employment history, and the names and locations of your parents and siblings. They will ask you each question, and if there is new information, they will write it on the form by hand with a red pen (so it is easily visible). They will number each change, and at the end of the form, note how many changes they made. You will then sign the form again (usually at the very end of the interview) confirming the changes.
For those who filed long ago, much of the information listed on the form will have changed (for example, I did an asylum interview recently where the applicant filed in 2015, and the AO made 31 updates to the form). People get married, have children, find new jobs, and move. Each of these changes needs to be recorded on the form. Reviewing all this can be very time consuming (and boring). Also, it is often difficult to remember all this information, including dates that you moved, changed jobs or attended new schools.
The obvious solution to these problems is to provide written updates to the officer at the start of the interview. That’s what we do for all our old cases. Once we receive the interview notice, we contact the client and go over the first four pages of the I-589. We write down any changes on a piece of paper and when we check-in to the interview, we give the updates to the Asylum Office. Most officers seem to appreciate these updates, as it speeds things along. Instead of the applicant being forced to recall all the new information in the moment (and potentially make mistakes), the written updates allow the AO to copy the new information and add it to the form.
We can also use the written update sheet to make any needed corrections to the original I-589 form (on pages 1-4 or any other pages). If there are errors on the form, it is best to correct those prior to the interview, as that reduces the likelihood that the error will affect your credibility.
Given the benefits of submitting written updates to the I-589, it has always surprised me that the Asylum Office does not request this when they send the interview notice. So if anyone at the Asylum Office is listening, please request applicants to bring written updates to their interview. This will save time and aggravation for asylum offices (and interpreters), increase accuracy, and allow AOs and applicants to focus on the substance of the claim.
In Immigration Court, the situation is a bit different. Judges rarely go over the I-589 form at the start of an Individual Hearing. Instead, they often simply ask whether the I-589 is accurate and complete (and sometimes, they do not even do that). It is possible to orally update the I-589 at the beginning of a hearing, but most judges would find that aggravating and a waste of time, and of course, it is not a great idea to aggravate the person who you hope will grant your case.
There are basically two options: (1) You can submit a brand new I-589 along with your other evidence; or (2) You can submit an update sheet, as discussed above. Unless there are major changes or problems with the original I-589, I prefer to submit the original I-589 and a page of updates. Partly, I prefer this method because I am lazy and do not want to re-do the form, but it’s also because some judges seem to prefer the original form (for cases that were referred from the Asylum Office to court, the judge and DHS should already have a copy of the original form + all the other documents submitted to the Asylum Office). Also, if I re-do the form, there is more chance for an inconsistency.
I can imagine situations where it is better to submit a new I-589 form. If you do that, be careful about inconsistencies with the old form. Also, if there are changes to the form, it is probably wise to explain those in writing, maybe in your affidavit.
If there are more than a few changes to your I-589, it is a good idea to submit those changes in writing prior to the asylum interview or Immigration Court hearing. This will help ensure accuracy, save time, and (hopefully) make the decision-maker happy. And if your decision-maker is happy, you are more likely to get a positive result.
