The good days of political asylum and green cards are no longer available to Chinese people. People who have been waiting for 8 years are sad and “can’t see tomorrow”

there have been manySugar obtained through political asylumgreen card Due to the length of case processing times and changes in immigration policies and law enforcement environments, some applicants who have been waiting several years are unable to see results.los angeles The Chinese family has been in the United States for nearly ten years and has applied for political asylum for eight years. He passed the interview last year and was recently informed about the replacement. The Chinese are very pessimistic at this time about whether they will be able to get a green card or not. “We can’t see tomorrow, and we could be deported by ICE at any time.”

Wang Cheng (pseudonym) accepted an exclusive interview with this newspaper and hoped that his real name would not be exposed. “I don’t want to add anything to the incident, and I’m afraid the news reports will impact the application.” In 2017, Wang Cheng’s family of three entered the country on tourist visas and then applied for political asylum. In 2025, they successfully passed the interview and thought they would soon receive green cards, but they are still far away from that. “Some friends applied for green cards through political asylum and got them in a few months. We’ve been waiting for years.”

Late applicants will be reviewed first

Wangcheng started applying in November 2018. They originally thought that the applications would be processed in a timely manner. They later learned that those who applied later would be prosecuted first. Their cases were delayed in every way, and then encountered the new crown epidemic, and the cases stalled even more. This situation of “last application and first review” is related to the “last in, first out” asylum interview system adopted by the Immigration Bureau in the past. The data suggests that the system is in place to deal with some people who use the long review period for political asylum to fraudulently obtain work cards (those who have waited more than 180 days to apply for asylum are eligible to apply for work cards). Therefore, asylum cases are not heard one by one based only on the application date.

After this he waited for many years. In 2025, Wang Cheng’s family completed interviews and submitted physical examinations and other documents as required. They have been waiting for another year. He said that he can usually only check the progress of the case through the Internet, and the status has not been updated for a long time. The long wait has caused financial pressure. Wang Cheng estimates that the family has spent 20,000 to 30,000 yuan on the initial application for political asylum, work permit, lawyer fees and subsequent green card applications and medical examination reminders. Recently they were informed about supplemental materials, which meant new expenses.

“I don’t care anymore. The worst plan is to go back to China. I’m most worried about my children. If I don’t get a green card, I’ll have to pay thousands more a year for college tuition.” Wang Cheng said that his son came to the United States as a child and has already adapted here. If the issue of status could not be resolved, his future education and life would be greatly affected. “The child will definitely not go back. He will no longer be able to adapt to the Chinese environment.”

Regarding changes in asylum cases in recent years, lawyer Liu Longzhu said that the testing and law enforcement environment for applying for political asylum is actually stricter now than before. He pointed out that some applicants may face immigration law enforcement while awaiting trial; The matter will become more complicated if criminal cases and deportation proceedings are involved at the same time. “In the past, when waiting for asylum and getting a work permit, as long as there was no criminal record, the Immigration Bureau did not cause trouble. But now there are more and more cases of getting caught.”

The success rate of online security is only 7%, which is actually even lower

Regarding the statement circulated on the Internet that “the asylum success rate is now only 7%”, Liu Longzhu believes that the actual situation may be even lower. Data from the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2026 show that immigration courts recorded a total of 7,231 asylum approvals and 89,740 denials; If only accepted and rejected cases are counted, the approval rate is about 7.5%. However, this statistic only reflects the results of the Immigration Court’s decision on relevant cases, and does not represent all asylum applications submitted to the Immigration Bureau (some do not require an Immigration Court decision), and cannot be directly considered as the approval probability of all applicants.

In terms of case backlog, Justice Ministry data shows that as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2026, there were about 2.32 million asylum applications pending in immigration courts. On the other hand, data released by the Department of Homeland Security in 2026 showed that by the end of fiscal year 2025, the Immigration Bureau still has approximately 1.43 million active asylum applications pending for review, and the average processing time has increased to 7.3 years, reflecting the long wait endured by asylum applicants.

Even if asylum is granted, it takes time to get a green card. The latest historical processing time data from USCIS shows that the average processing time for I-485 adjustment of status applications based on asylum approval for more than one year through August 30 in fiscal year 2026 was 20.2 months, a significant increase from 10.3 months in fiscal year 2025.