[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 8, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 8CFR208.9]

[Page 196-197]
 
                     TITLE 8--ALIENS AND NATIONALITY
 
CHAPTER I--IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
 
PART 208--PROCEDURES FOR ASYLUM AND WITHHOLDING OF REMOVAL--Table of Contents
 
              Subpart A--Asylum and Withholding of Removal
 
Sec. 208.9  Procedure for interview before an asylum officer.

    (a) The Service shall adjudicate the claim of each asylum applicant 
whose

[[Page 197]]

application is complete within the meaning of Sec. 208.3(c)(3) and is 
within the jurisdiction of the Service.
    (b) The asylum officer shall conduct the interview in a 
nonadversarial manner and, except at the request of the applicant, 
separate and apart from the general public. The purpose of the interview 
shall be to elicit all relevant and useful information bearing on the 
applicant's eligibility for asylum. At the time of the interview, the 
applicant must provide complete information regarding his or her 
identity, including name, date and place of birth, and nationality, and 
may be required to register this identity electronically or through any 
other means designated by the Attorney General. The applicant may have 
counsel or a representative present, may present witnesses, and may 
submit affidavits of witnesses and other evidence.
    (c) The asylum officer shall have authority to administer oaths, 
verify the identity of the applicant (including through the use of 
electronic means), verify the identity of any interpreter, present and 
receive evidence, and question the applicant and any witnesses.
    (d) Upon completion of the interview, the applicant or the 
applicant's representative shall have an opportunity to make a statement 
or comment on the evidence presented. The asylum officer may, in his or 
her discretion, limit the length of such statement or comment and may 
require its submission in writing. Upon completion of the interview, the 
applicant shall be informed that he or she must appear in person to 
receive and to acknowledge receipt of the decision of the asylum officer 
and any other accompanying material at a time and place designated by 
the asylum officer, except as otherwise provided by the asylum officer. 
An applicant's failure to appear to receive and acknowledge receipt of 
the decision shall be treated as delay caused by the applicant for 
purposes of Sec. 208.7(a)(3) and shall extend the period within which 
the applicant may not apply for employment authorization by the number 
of days until the applicant does appear to receive and acknowledge 
receipt of the decision or until the applicant appears before an 
immigration judge in response to the issuance of a charging document 
under Sec. 208.14(c).
    (e) The asylum officer shall consider evidence submitted by the 
applicant together with his or her asylum application, as well as any 
evidence submitted by the applicant before or at the interview. As a 
matter of discretion, the asylum officer may grant the applicant a brief 
extension of time following an interview during which the applicant may 
submit additional evidence. Any such extension shall extend by an 
equivalent time the periods specified by Sec. 208.7 for the filing and 
adjudication of any employment authorization application.
    (f) The asylum application, all supporting information provided by 
the applicant, any comments submitted by the Department of State or by 
the Service, and any other information specific to the applicant's case 
and considered by the asylum officer shall comprise the record.
    (g) An applicant unable to proceed with the interview in English 
must provide, at no expense to the Service, a competent interpreter 
fluent in both English and the applicant's native language or any other 
language in which the applicant is fluent. The interpreter must be at 
least 18 years of age. Neither the applicant's attorney or 
representative of record, a witness testifying on the applicant's 
behalf, nor a representative or employee of the applicant's country of 
nationality, or if stateless, country of last habitual residence, may 
serve as the applicant's interpreter. Failure without good cause to 
comply with this paragraph may be considered a failure to appear for the 
interview for purposes of Sec. 208.10.

[62 FR 10337, Mar. 6, 1997, as amended at 65 FR 76133, Dec. 6, 2000]