How to prove that you need political asylum in the US

This real story and how our hero was able to stay in the USA is an algorithm of action for those who have been persecuted for their political views.

Фото: Depositphotos

The number of our immigrants applying for political asylum in the United States reached a maximum in the last 24 of the year, overshadowing the previous record set in 1994. And the figure for 2017 year more than doubled the number of applications received in 2012 year, when there was another surge in political emigration to America. Then he coincided with the coming to power of President Vladimir Putin for a third term after being in the position of prime minister for four years. Immigration lawyers are currently overflowing.

History of Vladimir

Vladimir Zhuk arrived in the US with his family in April 2012 of the year on a tourist visa in order to “wait out” the dangerous situation that had developed for him in Russia: the persecution of political views in his homeland was becoming increasingly brutal every day. When relatives and friends, even six months later, reported that they were still looking for him, Vladimir decided not to risk the lives of his children and applied for asylum.

It all started in 2003 in Orenburg. Vladimir Zhuk worked as a commercial director in a company that sold dental material. After reproaches from competitors about reasonable prices that hindered their business, representatives of the so-called authorized bodies began to declare themselves in the office, who threatened and tried to "tamper" with the necessary price. In the summer of 2006, Vladimir and his partners moved to Moscow: they opened a new company in the same field and turned out customers.

“Later we merged with another company,” says Vladimir. “And we began not only to develop business, but also to engage in charity work as part of our activities and not only: we helped orphanages, pensioners and veterans of the Great Patriotic War - for example, we paid for dentures for the latter. The demand for our products was growing, but not everyone was happy with it.

History repeated itself: we received threatening letters and calls. Then people began to come to us and dictate what we should do: they told us who to work with and who not to work with, they ordered us to stop doing humanitarian aid, demanding that we transfer funds to “those who ensure free trade.” "

“In Russia, everything works like this: if your business is thriving, you are obliged to pay bribes to the tax authorities, the police, and so on,” Vladimir shares his sad experience. “They come and point out that you should share.” I was outraged, wrote complaints, but ran into frequent inspections and visits from government officials.”

Having accomplished nothing, Vladimir and the director of the company in which he worked began helping opposition groups that fought with Putin’s regime. In December, three people from the firm where Zhuk worked were beaten, threatening to destroy the business for financing the opposition. The attackers, having called the police, played the play that their victims were thieves. 11 September 2010, Vladimir’s apartment and company premises were damaged and looted, and there were inscriptions on the walls: “You will die a hard death with the whole family!” No instance has responded to the statement. The police only portrayed the activity. In fact - the persecution did not stop.

“We had no choice but to fight corruption on our own,” explains Zhuk. – We participated in the December 2010 protest, which was led by Boris Nemtsov, who was then arrested. After that, our company was visited by various people with threats. One of them lured us to a meeting under the pretext of cooperation. And in February 2011, all the windows in our apartment were broken. The children, wife and I were shocked. We covered the windows with pillows and blankets because it was bitterly cold outside. The police did not respond. No one was punished. In the spring, the headlights of my car were broken. And then the man we had already seen appeared and handed over a note with a fax number from where I “should” buy goods worth five hundred thousand rubles.”

Later, Vladimir was severely beaten several times. And in March, 2012, an incident occurred that pushed his family to flee Moscow. From kindergarten they tried to kidnap his daughters. In April, the 2012 of the year, the Beetle family left Russia and went to the USA to “wait out”. But since the situation at home did not change, they applied for political asylum.

So, now we will figure out what Vladimir had to do in order for his case to be submitted and he would have every chance of success in receiving the documents.

Фото: Depositphotos

Evidence base

Applicants who expect positive consideration of an application for political asylum must provide evidence of persecution in their home country. Namely:

• confirmation of the very past harassment and threats, if any;
• human rights reports in the country, newspaper articles related to your situation;
• any other documents showing that your concerns are valid.

Let's specify. For example:

• photos of a broken car, looted apartment;
• inscriptions on the walls, notes containing threats addressed to you;
• letters of witnesses;
• medical certificates that recorded your beating (or your partner, family member);
• printed materials from the media about such situations, official statistics on corruption, rallies, detained after protests, and so on.

Controversial moments

Many people ask: can I come on a tourist visa, change it to work, and then apply for political asylum? Yes! But you will have to explain to the officer the situation that you didn’t want to leave your homeland forever and part with your family and friends, tried to wait out in the hope that the situation in Russia would change. Prove that you are still looking for through relatives and friends: screen shots of messages, calls with dates and so on.

Is the waiting time playing an interview against you? It does not play, if you are trying to find, I repeat, or the situation in terms of corruption and the authorities has not changed. Look for the latest information on the Internet: who was killed, who was attacked on your topic.

The main thing is a clear evidence base. Yes, the waiting time for the interview is now delayed, and no one guarantees that you will pass it. Then there may be a court appeal.

The memory begins to erase some events, so it is important to live “with a pencil and notepad”, fixing the pop-up moments. Do not be afraid and be in paranoia. You are already on another continent.

Remember that strength is in truth, no matter how much it sounds like a cinematic romantic. Just to get documents in the US, it is she who is your trump card.

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