by Thokozile Gurganious

Created on: July 01, 2010

The procedure for getting a green card through refugee or asylee status is similar but also different in some respects.  Both a refugee and asylee are in the US because of fear of persecution in their home countries. The difference between them however, is that while the refugee comes to America already officially known and accepted to be someone in fear of persecution, the asylee comes in under a different status, and then claims the fear and persecution in his country while at the port of entry of after admission into the United States. Some asylees might even have come into the country as visitors for pleasure, but then claim asylum status after arrival or when their status expires or when an attempt is made to deport them.  Asylum status can be granted at the port of entry or by an immigration court judge inside the US. The asylee, therefore, is declared to be in fear of persecution after arrival in the US, while the refugee is declared to be in fear of persecution outside the US, most likely in a refugee camp in a third country(for example, Sudanese refugees normally came from Egypt, Ghana, or Ethiopia). 

The procedure for adjusting status to permanent resident (in simple terms, getting a green card), is similar but also different for asylees and refugees. Let us start with the procedure for refugees. The adjustment of status for refugees is dealt with under section 209 of the Immigration and Nationality Act which states that, 

“a)(1) Any alien who has been admitted to the United States under section 207-

(A) whose admission has not been terminated by the Attorney General pursuant to such regulations as the Attorney General may prescribe,

(B) who has been physically present in the United States for at least one year, and

(C) who has not acquired permanent resident status, shall, at the end of such year period, return or be returned to the custody of the Service for inspection and examination for admission to the United States as an immigrant in accordance with the provisions of sections 235, 240, and 241.”

In other words, refugees qualify to apply for adjustment of their status to permanent residents of the US after one year’s residence in the US.  The application for adjustment of status for refugees is done by filling Form I-485 together with supporting documentation, which includes the I-94 (this is a card that every alien coming into the US gets at the border that states the status under which the person is

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