U.S. citizenship and immigration services has changed how some affirmative asylum requests move through the system, allowing USCIS to skip the initial in-person interview and send a file straight to EOIR when the written record does not show initial eligibility. The change affects more than 440,000 affirmative asylum cases, including people who already filed Form I-589, gave fingerprints and photos, and were waiting for a call.
USCIS will still hold interviews for files that need verbal clarification or additional evidence, but the new directive gives the agency a second path for cases that do not meet eligibility criteria on the initial submission. DHS said there were 1,418,536 affirmative asylum forms in backlog as of December 31, 2025.
USCIS and EOIR
The change matters because it separates two outcomes at the filing stage. A case with enough written proof can move toward an interview, while a file that does not establish eligibility can be referred to EOIR for a judicial decision without that first hearing. For applicants, the packet now has to do more work before any appointment ever arrives.
Muriel Sánchez said applicants need to build the file with the evidence that supports the claim, including the declaration and material about country conditions, so migration can proceed with an interview. She added, “Con sus pruebas, con su declaración, con las noticias sobre la condición del país para que así migración pueda proceder a mandarle una cita para su entrevista… mucha gente no hizo eso bien, entonces muchos de esos casos van a ser enviados a la Corte.”
Kathia Quirós and evidence
Kathia Quirós was even more direct about the filing standard. “Si usted es de los que no tiene evidencia, usted sabe que va a perder. Un caso de asilo sin evidencias no es un caso que podamos ganar… Tenemos que tener evidencia de lo que estamos diciendo,” she said. Her warning tracks the new rule’s practical effect: a weak initial packet risks losing the interview stage entirely.
Donald Trump’s administration is described as having pushed the directive that changed asylum processing. In practice, the shift gives USCIS more room to decide case by case whether the written file itself is enough for an interview or whether the case goes directly to EOIR for a final judicial determination.
Formulario I-589 filings
The rule applies not only to people already waiting after filing Formulario I-589 and completing biometrics, but also to new asylum requests. That leaves applicants with one immediate task: make the initial submission complete, with the declaration and supporting material ready from the start, because the agency may not schedule a first hearing before deciding whether the file can move forward.
For people already in the queue, the change removes the assumption that waiting guarantees an interview. USCIS can now sort the file on paper first, and if the record does not satisfy the agency’s threshold, EOIR gets the case instead of the applicant getting a notice for a first interview.
