BIA Precedent on Subsequent Asylum Filings and REAL ID Act Applicability (Matter of M-A-F-)

Policy effect

The Board of Immigration Appeals held in a binding precedent that when an asylum applicant who filed before the May 11, 2005 effective date of the REAL ID Act submits a subsequent application on or after that date presenting a new basis for relief or substantially different factual basis, the later filing date controls for determining the applicability of section 208(b)(1)(B)(iii) credibility standards and the 1-year statutory filing deadline under section 208(a)(2)(B). Phase scope: Nationwide across all EOIR Immigration Courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Conditions and exceptions

Validated condition or limit: The Board of Immigration Appeals held in a binding precedent that when an asylum applicant who filed before the May 11, 2005 effective date of the REAL ID Act submits a subsequent application on or after that date presenting a new basis for relief or substantially different factual basis, the later filing date controls for determining the applicability of section 208(b)(1)(B)(iii) credibility standards and the 1-year statutory filing deadline under section 208(a)(2)(B).

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

(1) Where an applicant has filed an asylum application before the May 11, 2005, effective date of the REAL ID Act of 2005, Division B of Pub. L. No. 109-13, 119 Stat. 302, and, on or after that date, submitted a subsequent application that is properly viewed as a new application, the later filing date controls for purposes of determining the applicability of section 208(b)(1)(B)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii) (2012), to credibility determinations. (2) A subsequent asylum application is properly viewed as a new application if it presents a previously unraised basis for relief or is predicated on a new or substantially different factual basis.

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

Other United States changes operative in 2015

• 2015-01-18Five countries added to H-2A and H-2B eligible country list
• 2015-04-01Syria TPS redesignation expands eligibility
• 2015-04-29Temporary Non-Agricultural Employment of H-2B Aliens in the United States
• 2015-05-26Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses
• 2015-06-24Nepal designated for Temporary Protected Status
• 2015-07-21Mandatory H-1B Amended Petition Requirement for Geographic Worksite Relocations (Matter of Simeio Solutions, LLC)
• 2015-08-31USCIS Binding Adjudication Guidance on L-1B Specialized Knowledge Classification
• 2015-10-01Implementation of Dual-Chart Immigrant Visa Filing System ('Dates for Filing' vs. 'Final Action Dates')
• 2015-11-09Administrative Processing of Request for Certificate of Loss of Nationality Fee Expansion