QUESTION
Is there a chance I can apply for religious asylum in the US if I’m a registered as Muslim but not a practicing one?
Asked on Sep 29th, 2016 on Immigration - New York
More details to this question:
I’m a 34 year old Jordanian woman, born and raised to a Muslim family, but I decided a long time ago that I do not subscribe the practices of Islam. I wore the veil for 11 years and then I took it off against my family's will. I'm not a practicing Muslim by any measure, and I announce that publically, and I make my criticism of Islam loud and clear in social media. I get harassed through messaging and comments for my opinions. I'm a non-conforming woman, which is the worst you can be in this culture. I've had intercourse out of wedlock, which if made known, I would face the risk of being killed for the preservation of the family's honor. Right now, I'm fearing for my life, not only because of the honor issue but also after the assassination of a well-known Jordanian atheist author for publishing a drawing making fun of a specific Islamic ideology. I fear for my life and my freedom of expression. Additionally, the society I live in is misogynist at different levels, and I have constantly been oppressed socially for not conforming with the dress code or the behavior code for women. I hold a master degree in environment management and policy from a university in Sweden.
1 ANSWER
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You state an apparently viable claim for asylum. The chances of success of your application will depend on your ability to prove this claim, and on several other factors. One of such factors is the answer to the question whether, after you had reasons to fear for your life, freedom, health and dignity, you were in any other country where you could have asked for an asylum. Please, do not take this preliminary impression as a promise of success or even as an encouragement to commit yourself to this process. I simply do not know enough about you and your case to make such a recommendation. You need to realize that an application for asylum in the U.S. is a very serious, in many aspects, irreversible step. If your claim is not sufficiently documented and would be denied for lack of proof, you would be deported from the U.S. and become ineligible to come back ever, in any status. A failed asylum application can make your coming back home even more dangerous when it already is. Most immigration attorneys understand these consequences of filing an asylum application. Before taking your case, an attorney would ask you a lot of questions and discuss with you many issues. For many reasons, this discussion should not occur on public forum.
Answered on Oct 21st, 2016 at 6:49 PM