[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 8, Volume 1]

[Revised as of January 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 8CFR208.9]



[Page 147-148]

 

                     TITLE 8--ALIENS AND NATIONALITY

 

               CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

 

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 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



[[Page 148]]



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]