Asylum, withholding of removal and CAT
Asylum, withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture are the three claims for a person who fears persecution or torture in the country of return. All three are raised on Form I-589 in front of the immigration judge, with different standards, different bars and different results. This page states the framework and the fees. The full treatment, page by page, is on our asylum site, and this page says why.
Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any rule change.
Protection claims are the largest single category of applications in immigration court, and a person in proceedings who fears return files them alongside everything else on the relief list. The claim is decided at the individual hearing on your testimony and the country-conditions record, and after Urias-Orellana v. Bondi, No. 24-777 (Mar. 4, 2026), the courts of appeals review the judge's findings deferentially, reversing only where the record compels it. The hearing is close to the last word.
Asylum
Asylum under INA 208 is for a person with a well-founded fear of persecution in the country of return on account of a protected ground. A grant leads to lawful permanent residence after a year. It is subject to the one-year filing deadline below and to a set of bars, including a bar for anyone convicted of an aggravated felony.
Withholding of removal
Withholding under INA 241(b)(3) is for a person who shows it is more likely than not that their life or freedom would be threatened in the country of return on account of a protected ground. The standard is higher than asylum's, but there is no one-year deadline, and an aggravated felony does not always bar it. What withholding does not do is lead to a green card. It prevents removal to the one country, and nothing more.
Protection under the Convention Against Torture
CAT protection under 8 C.F.R. 1208.16 through 1208.18 is for a person who shows it is more likely than not that they would be tortured in the country of return, with the consent or acquiescence of a public official. No protected ground is required, and no criminal conviction bars the deferral form of CAT protection. It is the last resort for a person whom the criminal bars have taken out of asylum and withholding, and it is the claim that survives when nothing else does.
| Asylum | Withholding | CAT | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authority | INA 208 | INA 241(b)(3) | 8 C.F.R. 1208.16-1208.18 |
| Standard | Well-founded fear of persecution | More likely than not, persecution | More likely than not, torture with official acquiescence |
| Protected ground required | Yes | Yes | No |
| One-year deadline | Yes, with two exceptions | No | No |
| Aggravated felony | Bars | Can bar | Deferral is never barred |
| Result | Green card after a year | No removal to that country | No removal to that country |
| Government fee | $100 filing fee and $102 Annual Asylum Fee | None if filed alone | None if filed alone |
The one-year deadline and its two exceptions
Under INA 208(a)(2)(B), an asylum application must be filed within one year of arrival in the United States. The regulation at 8 C.F.R. 1208.4(a)(4) and (a)(5) sets out the two exceptions: changed circumstances that materially affect eligibility, and extraordinary circumstances that caused the delay, in each case with the application filed within a reasonable period afterward. The deadline applies to asylum only. A person who is past the year and fits no exception still files for withholding and CAT on the same Form I-589, and the judge decides those on their merits.
The year runs from arrival, not from the Notice to Appear
A person who has been here three years when the case begins is past the deadline unless an exception applies, and the exception has to be pleaded and proven with evidence, not asserted. The asylum site's page on the deadline covers what counts as changed and extraordinary circumstances and how the reasonable period is measured.
The government fees
For a defensive filing in immigration court, a $100 asylum filing fee and a $102 Annual Asylum Fee apply, under 91 FR 35369 and 8 C.F.R. 1103.7(b)(4). Both are government fees paid to the government, not our legal fees. There is no fee for an application that seeks only withholding of removal or CAT protection. We confirm the current figures on the EOIR fee page before filing.
Criminal convictions
An aggravated felony conviction bars asylum. It can bar withholding of removal. It never bars deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture. Whether a conviction is an aggravated felony is decided under the categorical approach, and under Pereida v. Wilkinson, 592 U.S. 224 (2021), an applicant for relief loses that question if the record is inconclusive. For a person with a reinstated removal order, asylum is unavailable and withholding and CAT are reached only through reasonable fear screening, under INA 241(a)(5) and 8 C.F.R. 208.31.
Where the full treatment lives, and why
This page is deliberately short. Asylum law moved faster over the last two years than any other part of removal defense, and it is still moving: the fees and the screening rules have each changed since 2024, and more is in litigation. Two firm sites publishing the same volatile law would drift apart within a quarter, and a reader comparing them would not know which was current. So one site owns it. Our asylum site, asylumadvocate.com, carries the full treatment, re-checks it on its own schedule, and is where the detailed pages live. The four cards below go to the specific pages, not the home page.
The asylum claim as it is actually tried in immigration court: the Form I-589, the elements, the bars, the hearing and the record.
Defensive asylum at asylumadvocate.com →
Withholding of removalThe more-likely-than-not standard, the narrower bars, and what withholding does and does not give you.
Withholding of removal at asylumadvocate.com →
The one-year filing deadlineChanged circumstances, extraordinary circumstances, the reasonable period, and how each is proven.
The one-year deadline at asylumadvocate.com →
The asylum evidence guideThe declaration, corroboration, country-conditions evidence and professional reports, and how the record is assembled for the hearing.
Asylum evidence at asylumadvocate.com →
What this site covers
The removal case around the protection claim stays here: the individual hearing itself, the filing deadlines, the appeal to the Board within 30 days, the petition for review, and every other form of relief filed in the alternative. A person with a protection claim and a citizen spouse files for asylum and for adjustment of status; a person with ten years and a qualifying relative files for asylum and cancellation. The judge rules on each.
Three procedural rules apply to the protection claim exactly as they apply to every other application in the case. Under 8 C.F.R. 1240.8(d) you carry the burden of proving eligibility. In a non-detained case the application and its evidence are due at least 30 days before the individual hearing under the Immigration Court Practice Manual, on a receipt rule; in a detained case the judge sets the schedule, often in days, and the claim is assembled on that schedule. And a denial is appealed to the Board within 30 calendar days, with a timely appeal generally staying removal under 8 C.F.R. 1003.6(a). A person in custody has a second case running at the same time, the bond case, which is handled at icebail.com and does not wait for the protection claim; see detained removal defense.
Read next: every form of relief, the individual hearing, criminal convictions and removal, or reinstatement of removal.
Common questions
What is the difference between asylum and withholding of removal?
Asylum under INA 208 requires a well-founded fear of persecution on account of a protected ground and leads to permanent residence. Withholding under INA 241(b)(3) requires showing it is more likely than not that you would be persecuted, a higher standard, and it only prevents removal to that country; it does not lead to a green card. Asylum has a one-year filing deadline; withholding has none. The two are filed together on Form I-589 and the judge rules on each.
I have been here more than a year. Can I still apply for asylum?
The one-year deadline in INA 208(a)(2)(B) has two exceptions, at 8 C.F.R. 1208.4(a)(4) and (a)(5): changed circumstances that materially affect eligibility, and extraordinary circumstances that caused the delay, with the application filed within a reasonable time afterward. If neither applies, asylum is barred but withholding and CAT are not, and they are filed on the same form.
Is there a government fee?
For a defensive asylum application filed in immigration court, a $100 asylum filing fee and a $102 Annual Asylum Fee apply, under 91 FR 35369 and 8 C.F.R. 1103.7(b)(4). Both are government fees paid to the government, not our legal fees. There is no fee for an application seeking only withholding of removal or CAT protection.
Why is the full treatment on a different site?
Asylum law changed faster than any other area of removal defense over the last two years, and it keeps changing. Two sites publishing the same volatile rules would drift apart, and a reader would not know which one was current. Our asylum site, asylumadvocate.com, owns those pages and re-checks them on its own schedule. This site points to the specific page rather than reprinting it.
Tell us where your case is. We will tell you what is still possible.
You get a free case review with an attorney, in your language. We speak English, Russian, Spanish and Uzbek in-house, and we bring in a live interpreter for anything else. We will tell you what stage you are at, which forms of relief are open to you, what your deadlines are, and whether we can help. If we cannot, we will say so.