Although plenty of people living in countries outside the U.S. are in fear for their lives and thus seeking a country that offers them protection, asylum is not a status that's available in such circumstances.

(This is a separate issue from whether the would-be applicant meets the eligibility criteria for asylum.)

Where One Can Apply for U.S. Asylum

Legally, the only two ways to apply for a grant of asylum from the United States are:

• within the U.S. (by submitting an "affirmative" application to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or USCIS or by raising a claim to asylum as a defense in immigration court removal proceedings), or
• at a U.S. border post or other port of entry, such as an airport or seaport.

U.S. embassies and consulates do not fit the above description. They handle some immigration matters; but these are mainly applications for standard visas to the United States (such as for tourists, workers, or family members of U.S. citizens and residents).

Getting to the U.S. to Apply for Asylum

How does someone who wishes to seek asylum get to the United States in order to do so? There's no "asylum visa."

One possibility is to apply for a tourist or other temporary (nonimmigrant) visa for U.S. entry and then apply for asylum after getting here.

This can, however, be problematic. If you don't already have such a visa, you will likely need to convince the consular officer, and later the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent at the U.S. port of entry, that your intent is truly to be a tourist (or student, and so forth). That's not entirely true if you plan to apply for asylum.

What's more, being caught having lied to a consular or other U.S. government officer can negatively affect your application for asylum and for other immigration benefits. It cuts both ways, however. If you make it into the U.S., a good lawyer can help you argue that such a lie is actually consistent with your fear of return.

Some applicants have gone one step further and acquired false documents for U.S. entry. Many also get caught at this. A record of fraudulent document use will make it difficult for anyone examining your asylum case to believe anything else that you say. (In legal terms, it can result in an "adverse credibility finding.")

Showing up at a post along the U.S. border with either Canada or Mexico is also a possibility. The trouble with that is that you must convince the border guard that you have a "credible fear" of persecution before being allowed in to continue the asylum application. And even if you are let into the U.S., there's a high probability you will be detained during the application process. That makes it difficult to find a lawyer and prepare your case.

Obviously, some people instead attempt to cross the U.S. border illegally. This, too, is highly dangerous. Many people die trying. Many others are caught (in which case you would at least have the chance to establish a "credible fear" of persecution and so on, as described just above).

People who successfully enter the U.S. have the prospect of preparing an "affirmative" asylum application (one in which the applicant is not in immigration court proceedings). This must be submitted within one year of U.S. entry.

Refugee Status the Only Option From Outside the U.S.

There is a way to obtain a country's protection from afar, but it's not a direct way. If you can qualify as a refugee and come under the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, you may be placed in another country (perhaps the U.S.) for your protection. The procedures, however, do not involve making any direct application to the U.S. government.