U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated the filing location for some affirmative asylum applications that are sent in via mail. This change is made to streamline asylum processing and improve the efficiency of adjudication by digitizing the paper filings. Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, should be mailed to the lockbox based on your place of residence rather than to the service center. A listing of locations is shown on the USCIS Form I-589 website. Look for the lockbox address based on the address of residence. If the form has been sent to the service center, it will be accepted until the update is made through the Federal Register notice.

Individuals submitting their completed Form I-589 to a lockbox location will receive two notices. The first confirms receipt of the form and forwarding it to USCIS. A standard Form I-589 receipt notice will be sent by USCIS upon acceptance of the application. Both notices will show the same receipt date, used to determine employment authorization eligibility and the one-year filing deadline.

Individuals in the categories shown below must send their asylum application to the Asylum Vetting Center, per the instructions on Form I-589:

  • Loss of Derivative Status After Asylum Approval but Before Adjustment of Status (Nunc Pro Tunc);
  • Loss of Derivative Status After Initial Filing but Before Final Decision;
  • Simultaneous Filing as a Principal Applicant and a Derivative Applicant;
  • Previously Issued a Final Action by USCIS on a Form I-589; and
  • Previously in Immigration Court Proceedings.

Individuals not in immigration court proceedings and who are affirmative asylum applicants are encouraged to use online filing unless included in one of the categories noted above. Be sure to review the “Where to File” and “Special Instructions” sections of Form I-589 carefully prior to submitting your documents.

A new Form I-589, dated 03/01/23, has been published. This should be used immediately. As of July 31, 2023, it will be the only form accepted. Until that date, individuals can use the form dated 10/12/22. In addition, including a passport-style photo, multiple copies of the form, or multiple copies of supporting documents are not needed.

If you have questions about affirmative asylum applications or any other immigration-related issue, contact us at ILBSG. We actively monitor ongoing updates to U.S. immigration policy to ensure our clients get the right advice.

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