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Affirmative claims are the more common.  People who have

entered the United States, regardless of immigration status,

can affirmatively apply for asylum by submitting an asylum

application to the INS.9  The application form is nine

pages,10 but successful applications typically contain hun-

dreds of pages of supporting documentation, including affi-

davits from the applicant and from the applicant's family,

colleagues, or friends; newspaper articles; statements by

country experts; and reports from human rights organizations

supporting the asylum claim.

When the INS accepts an affirmative application for

filing, the applicant's local INS asylum office schedules an

interview for the asylum applicant with an asylum officer,

typically within 45 days of receiving the application.11

During the nonadversarial interview, the applicant is ques-

tioned about his or her asylum claim.  An applicant who does

not speak English can bring a friend, relative, or inter-

preter to translate.  The applicant can also be represented

by counsel.  At the conclusion, the applicant is typically

asked to return to the asylum office on a certain date,

usually within three weeks, to obtain the decision in the

case.

If asylum is granted, the applicant is then authorized

to apply for a work permit, and one year after receiving

asylum, to apply for permanent residency.  After being

granted asylum, he or she can apply for asylum for a spouse

and children.12

If asylum is not granted, the applicant is then re-

quired to acknowledge receipt of a notice to appear at pro-

ceedings to remove13 him or her from the United States.14

Such proceedings to return an applicant to the country of

nationality begin immediately.  Immigration judges in the

Executive Office of Immigration Review (within the U.S.

Department of Justice) preside over the proceedings.  In the

proceedings, refugees can renew their application for asylum

as a defense to removal, and the application is reviewed

again.  The proceedings, before an immigration judge, are

adversarial; the asylum applicants can be represented by

counsel and can present and cross-examine witnesses.

Asylum seekers apprehended by the INS, whether at a

U.S. border, a port of entry, or within the United States,

cannot affirmatively apply for asylum with the INS asylum

office.  Rather, they are typically detained and removal