How to Bring Your Family After an Asylum Grant With Form I-730

Winning asylum protects you. It does not automatically protect the spouse and children you left behind. The tool for them is Form I-730, the Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition: one petition for each relative, filed within two years of the date you were granted asylum or admitted as a refugee. There is no visa number, no Visa Bulletin wait, and no affidavit of support, which makes the I-730 the fastest family route in immigration law when it fits. The rules on who fits are strict, and the two-year deadline is real. CLP’s family reunification team files I-730 petitions alongside the underlying asylum case; here is how the process works.

Who can file Form I-730 and for whom

You can file if you were granted asylum by USCIS or an immigration judge, or admitted to the United States as a refugee, and you still hold that status or have since become a permanent resident based on it. You cannot file after you naturalize; once you are a citizen, the route is Form I-130. A derivative asylee or refugee, meaning someone who received status through a family member’s case, cannot file an I-730 for their own relatives.

You can petition for your spouse and your unmarried children under 21. The relationship must have existed on the date of your grant or admission: a marriage after the grant does not count, and a child must have been born or at least conceived by that date. Stepchildren qualify if the marriage took place before they turned 18, and adopted children qualify under the usual adoption rules. The underlying asylum case is covered on our affirmative asylum page, and family members who can be included on the original application are explained in our post on derivative asylum for a spouse and children.

The two-year deadline and the locked age

File each I-730 within two years of your asylum grant date or refugee admission date. USCIS can accept a late petition for humanitarian reasons, but that is discretionary and must be explained with evidence. Treat the deadline as fixed.

The age rule is the part most families misunderstand. A child’s age for I-730 purposes is locked on the date you filed your asylum application (Form I-589) or your refugee application, not the date you were granted and not the date you file the I-730. A son who was 19 when you filed the I-589, and who is 24 by the time your asylum is granted and the I-730 is filed, still qualifies as your child, as long as he is unmarried. Marriage at any point before the beneficiary receives status disqualifies a child. Our post on how the CSPA age calculation works explains how this fits with the rules for other categories.

What to file with the petition

• Proof of your status: the asylum approval letter, the immigration judge’s order, your I-94 showing asylee or refugee status, or your green card if you adjusted based on asylum.
• A recent passport-style photograph of the beneficiary.
• For a spouse: the marriage certificate and proof that any prior marriage of either of you ended.
• For a child: the birth certificate naming you; for a child born out of wedlock through the father, legitimation or relationship evidence; for a stepchild or adopted child, the marriage certificate or adoption decree.
• Certified English translations of every foreign-language document.
• If the beneficiary is already in the United States, their current address and entry information.

As of this writing USCIS charges no filing fee for Form I-730; confirm on the form page before mailing, and send the petition to the address listed there.

What happens after USCIS approves

If your relative is in the United States, USCIS adjudicates the petition, may schedule an interview, and on approval grants derivative asylee or refugee status with a new I-94. Your relative does not need to show any fear of persecution of their own; the case rests on your grant and the relationship.

If your relative is abroad, USCIS approves the petition and forwards it to the National Visa Center, which sends it to the U.S. embassy or consulate, or to a USCIS international office, nearest your relative. The relative is interviewed to confirm identity, the relationship, and admissibility. Some inadmissibility grounds that block ordinary immigrants, such as the public charge ground, do not apply here; others, such as serious criminal grounds and the bars for persecutors, do. DNA testing is sometimes requested when documents are thin. On approval the relative receives a travel document and enters the United States as a derivative asylee or refugee. Check the current USCIS and State Department processing times, since the stage abroad varies widely by post.

After arrival: work, travel and the green card

Derivative asylees and refugees are authorized to work and can obtain an Employment Authorization Document on Form I-765. After one year of physical presence in the United States in that status, each relative can apply for a green card on Form I-485; our green card through asylum page covers that filing. Travel abroad should be on a Refugee Travel Document obtained on Form I-131, and never to the country of feared persecution, since a return trip can be used to argue that the underlying fear has ended. Because derivative status depends on yours, a termination of your asylum ends your family’s status as well, and changes in the relationship after approval raise questions worth asking before anyone files for adjustment.

If you were granted asylum or admitted as a refugee and your spouse or children are still abroad, a consultation with Capitol Law Partners can confirm eligibility and file the I-730 petitions before the two-year window closes. Schedule a consultation.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by this communication.

Attorney Sena Sahin. Clear advice for individuals, families, and business owners.

Need help with this topic? See our family reunification for asylees and refugees page or schedule a consultation.