Length of Prince William County Asylum Process

Prince William County asylum is lengthy, as it could potentially take years to fully process. It is critical that someone applying for asylum in the United States has a dedicated lawyer who can assist in ensuring the right documentation is filled out, prepare for USCIS final interviews, and ensure that their client is prepared for the hearing. An immigration judge grants asylum based on several factors and people need to go through interviews and prepare documentation.

The asylum process can be complicated, since you have several interviews, hearings, and need to provide documentation and evidence. A dedicated asylum attorney can help you apply for asylum. An immigration lawyer can also ensure that you bring relevant paperwork, documentation, and evidence to the hearing. Since the length of Prince William County asylum process differs by case and individual, it is critical to have legal representation. If you need help going through the asylum process and procedure, consult a skilled asylum attorney.


Asylum law is the federal law, so the process and procedures are the same no matter where a person applies. However, the timeframe can be different because of different USCIS offices. For a person applying affirmatively, different USCIS offices have different wait times before being granted a final interview. The exact length of Prince William County asylum process can vary. Right now in Virginia, there is about a two-year queue to receive an asylum interview if applying affirmatively before USCIS, but that seems to be growing and can change at any time. Also, if a person is applying in front of the immigration court, that will change, depending on where they are applying. In general, every immigration office in the United States right now is extremely backlogged. If a person is applying in Virginia, they could be looking at several years before reaching their hearing date. Some cases are already set in 2022, so it is a long wait.

Lengthy Process

Asylum is a lengthy process if a person is starting at the affirmative phase. They will first be applying with the USCIS office and have to wait a long time to get an interview with USCIS. In Virginia, it is about two years. Once a person’s case before USCIS has reached the decision phase and is denied, it will be referred to the immigration court, the person has to wait for their initial master calendar hearing, and then their individual hearing goes before the immigration judge. It is a number of years if a person is going from the affirmative phase than the defensive hearing in immigration court.

Expedite Process

In limited cases, it is possible to apply for an expedited interview with USCIS, based on extreme humanitarian factors. Since the length of Prince William County asylum process is extensive, there are emergency situations where someone needs an immigration judge to grant asylum. However, the bar for proving that the humanitarian factors exist to allow the person an expedited hearing is extremely high. They deny almost all requests for expedited hearings, so there is little a person can do to expedite asylum cases.

There is a way that a person can communicate with USCIS offices to request an expedited hearing. It is granted in some limited cases where a person can prove that there is an immediate threat to family members that will be attached to him or her, like derivatives on their asylum application. If a person has children still abroad and they are at indirect and immediate danger for the reasons that the person is claiming their own fear on their own asylum application, in some cases they will grant expedited interviews, but this is a high bar.

Consulting an Asylum Attorney

Since a person needs to convince the judge to grant asylum in the United States, there is extensive documentation and paperwork they must provide during the application process. Since this is a lengthy and complicated process, there are benefits to contacting an experienced asylum attorney.

If you are applying for asylum in Prince William County, and you are unsure of what steps to take during this procedure, you should hire a dedicated attorney. The length of Prince William County asylum process varies based on the individual’s situation. Although there is an expedited process, there is a high bar for applications. The person needs to prove that they are in danger and claim on their asylum application.