Posted on June 10, 2021

The Board of Immigration Appeals in Matter of D-G-C-, 28 I&N Dec. 297 (BIA 2021) in details discussed changed circumstances exception for late filing of asylum application. An asylum application must be filed within 1 year of arrival into the US. An untimely asylum application may be considered “if the alien demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Attorney General . . . the existence of changed circumstances which materially affect the applicant’s eligibility for asylum.”

To qualify for the “changed circumstances” exception under section 208(a)(2)(D), the alleged change must be significant such that it materially affects an applicant’s asylum eligibility as a consequence of newly established facts or a new legal basis for relief.

The BIA defined that the changed circumstances exception may include either “changed conditions in the home country or changes in objective circumstances relating to the applicant in the United States, including changes in applicable U.S. law, that create a reasonable possibility that the applicant may qualify for asylum.”

In sum, the BIA held that the mere continuation of an activity in the United States that is substantially similar to the previous activity and that does not significantly increase the risk of future harm is insufficient to establish “changed circumstances” to excuse an untimely asylum application within the meaning of section 208(a)(2)(D) of the Act.