MIAMI —The rules have changed. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, for its acronym in English) announced that, starting September 13, refugee applicants must attend their interview asylum with a TRANSLATOR if they are not fluent in the English language.
USCIS says that if asylum seekers don’t meet that standard, the case can be dismissed or sent to court before an immigration judge.
“If you need an interpreter and do not bring one to your interview, or if your interpreter is not fluent in English, and you do not show good reason, we may consider this a failure to appear at your interview and may deny your asylum application. or refer said request to an immigration judge. We will determine on a case-by-case basis whether the reason is reasonable,” USCIS reported in a press release.
At the same time, the immigration agency specifies that the translator must be fluent in English and the language that the asylum seeker is fluent in, and must be at least 18 years old.
Other details of the rules that came into force on Wednesday are that the translator cannot be a lawyer or authorized representative, witness of the asylum seeker, representative or employee of the government of the country of nationality, this is in the case of no state. , or from the country of last habitual residence. The interpreter cannot also be a person who has a pending asylum application and has not yet been interviewed.
USCIS said that on September 13, it reverted to the old regulatory requirement that an asylum seeker provide his or her own interpreter, a measure that was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“On September 23, 2020, we published a temporary rule (TFR) requiring asylum seekers to use our contracted telephone interpreters for their asylum interview instead of bringing an interpreter to their interview. of asylum interviews with USCIS asylum officers as the COVID-19 national and public health emergency takes effect.
“We have published four consecutive TFRs extending the requirement, with the current extension in effect until September 12, 2023.”
The fourth extension has ended and USCIS is preparing to return to the previous regulatory requirement. “With the expiration of the TFR, we reverted to the old regulatory requirement that an asylum seeker provide an interpreter.”
