Put the exact date you left your country, or as close as possible. It is used to determine if you traveled through or lived in any countries before coming to the U.S., and whether you could have sought asylum in any of those countries.

This is a “record of inspection” issued at a port of entry, when you arrived in the U.S.. You can find your I-94 number online here. If you were admitted without inspection (meaning you crossed the border without interacting with any law enforcement), you should write “None.”

You should write your most recent entry into the U.S. If you got an I-94 when you arrived, you can find the date on that form. The correct date is very important, because you generally must apply for asylum within one year of your last arrival (unless you satisfy a waiver exception).

If you last came to the U.S. without being inspected by an Immigration Officer at a port of entry (i.e. came across without interacting with any law enforcement officials) (“Entered Without Inspection” or “EWI”), then you should write the date that you actually crossed the border (or as close as possible).

Place of Last Arrival

If you have an I-94, this information can also be found there. If you entered without inspection (EWI), you should write the general area where you crossed, such as “Texas.”  

Status

This can be found on your I-94 or your passport. More likely than not, your initial entry into the United States was on a non-immigrant status. If you entered without inspection, the correct response to this question is simply EWI.

Date Status Expires

This refers to the expiration date of the permitted stay on your immigration status. For example, if you came to the U.S. on a B2 visitor visa, you would put the end of the time period allowed to remain in the U.S. For example, if you were admitted to the U.S. as a visitor on a B2 visa for six months, you would write the end of the time period allowed to remain in the U.S. as the expiration date (unless it had been extended), and not the expiration of your visa (because a B-2 visa could be valid for entries as a visitor for many years sometimes). Some I-94s, such as those for students, have “D/S” for “duration of status,” rather than a specific date. If your I-94 says “D/S,” you should write this in on the Date Status Expires line.

For each entry into the U.S., you should provide information to the best of your ability about the date, place, and status of that entry.  If you run out of room, you can continue writing in Supplement B.

You should write the name of the country that issued the passport you used at the time of your arrival in the U.S.

Write the passport number of your current passport, even if it now expired. If you entered the United States with a passport, you won’t have travel documents. If you entered with travel documents, you likely do not have a visa. If you entered with travel documents just write the number. If you don’t have either (for example you entered without inspection), just write “N/A” in the appropriate box.

Enter the month, day and year of expiration of your most recent passport or travel document (even if it is now expired).

Write in your native language. If you have more than one native language, write in the language in which you feel most comfortable. If you are fluent in English, answer “Yes.”

This question asks about about past persecution. You should briefly, but thoroughly explain any past harm(s) that you or someone you know personally, suffered based on one of the listed groups above. If you have not  directly experienced any harm, you should provide examples of harm your family and/or friends have suffered, because it will personalize your fear of future persecution. Furthermore, even if any of the harm you suffered does not rise to the level of persecution, you should still include some examples to help paint a picture of the life that you are afraid of returning to, in your home country.

This questions asks if you fear future persecution. In order to qualify for asylum, you must answer yes to this question.  You should also be brief and thorough in describing the harm you fear, for example abuse by police or forced marriage.

It is possible you will have already mentioned arrests or detentions that you or family or friends have suffered, however, you should still list them again. You should write down any interactions you had with the police and/or the military where you did not feel free t

This question can be particularly important if you are applying for asylum based on persecuted political opinion, or religion. You should list any or all associations or memberships with organizations in your home country, along with any evidence of membership (letters, membership cards, news stories, etc.). Examples of groups might be a church, a union, or a political party.

If you are still involved in any of these groups, you should fully explain here.

If you are applying for relief under CAT(Convention Against Torture), you should be able to answer yes to this question. Essentially, if you are afraid of harm or pain either directly because of your government, or with the agreement/neglect of your government, then you should indicate yes. You might have to repeat some details from your previous answers, but you should still state everything related to your fear of torture and by whom.  

The purpose of this question is to determine if you could have reasonably sought asylum in another country.

The purpose of this question is is whether you could have, or could currently seek asylum or another immigration status, in another country.

This question is related to mandatory bars to asylum. For most, the answer to this question will be no.

You have to write every previous trip back to your home country. There are reasonable explanations for why you might have returned after you left to seek asylum. However, the asylum officer will most certainly ask you about them, so you should provide an explanation here.

If you were convicted of a “particularly serious crime” (an aggravated felony), you will not be eligible for asylum, because of a mandatory bar. If you are not certain whether a crime would affect asylum eligibility, you should contact an experienced immigration attorney.