Park Translations Providing Support for Pro Bono Afghan Asylum Petitions
Park Translations Providing Support for Pro Bono Afghan Asylum Petitions
By: Annika Minton
When the United States military withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in August of 2021, thousands of Afghan civilians were left seeking asylum in the U.S. Around 5,000 Afghan asylum-seekers arrived in the states in September of 2021, hoping for a smooth, quick approval process—unfortunately, the wait time for a response on an asylum-seeker’s claim is between two to six years.
Some law firms took this opportunity to help these Afghans in need and are continuing their pro bono work to help them fill out their EAD (employee authorization documents) extensions and TPS (Temporary Protected Status) applications, which would allow them to continue to work in the United States while waiting for their asylum case to be adjudicated.
While law firms initially filed the I-589 form (the application for asylum) for Afghan asylum-seekers, the lengthy wait time to earn asylum status is where the TPS and EAD extensions come in. If they haven’t gotten a response on their claim by the time their EAD expires, then the TPS must be filed to extend their protected status while they wait for their application to be processed. The cycle of getting statuses extended continues until they are finally granted asylum status.
As one can imagine, asylum-seekers are required to provide a lot of documentation for the government to file and verify before they are granted asylum in the United States; but when they come from a non-English speaking country, all those documents need to be translated to English first.
Park is supporting AM500 law firms with pro bono translations to help these asylum-seekers get their EAD extended so they can continue to work and make a living while they wait (potentially for several years) for their case to be adjudicated and be granted asylum status.
If you’re an attorney and need support for standard or pro bono translations, don’t hesitate to reach out to [email protected] to discuss your case.
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