How to Check Your Asylum Clock
If you are in removal proceedings and applied for asylum defensively with the Immigration Court:
The time of your asylum clock begins on the day the Immigration Court receives your application, not on the day you submitted it.
Confirmation of your mailing receipt with a tracking number for delivery or a copy of the application stamped by the court may serve as confirmation of your filing date.
You can check your clock by calling the court’s (EOIR) automated case information line: 1-800-898-7180. This is a pre-recorded line, and there are no live representatives available at this number. Once you call, follow these instructions:
Press 1 for instructions in English
Press 2 for instructions in Spanish
Enter your full alien (A) number
The recording will read the number you entered back to you
Enter 1 to confirm your A number
The recording will read the name associated with that alien number back to you
Enter 1 to confirm your name
Press 2 for asylum clock information
The recording will tell you how many days you have on your clock
How do I know how much time has passed since I turned in my asylum application? (In other words, how many days do I have on my asylum clock?)
The above instructions will allow you to find out how many days you have on your asylum clock. After your clock is at 150 days or more, you may apply for a work permit (Employment Authorization Document).
I submitted my asylum application to the Immigration Court, but my clock has stopped. What can I do?
Please note that your clock may have stopped if you had a court appearance, and you requested more time to find an attorney or to delay your next court date in any way. In this case, you may need to wait for your next court date for the clock to restart.
If your clock is stopped but you did not request more time, and you believe your clock was stopped in error, you may contact the court by phone or by sending a written request to obtain more information and to ask to restart your clock. You may use the sample letter below as a reference point for your request.
If the judge stopped your clock at your first Masters Calendar because you did not have an attorney, and you want to restart your clock, you can ask the judge to advance your final hearing and cancel your next Masters Calendar. For this, you need to write a letter (motion). Please take a look at the sample attached. If the judge grants you the motion, they will normally restart your clock.
* This information is for general guidance purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult with an immigration attorney if your situation is different or if you have specific questions about your case.
If you applied for asylum affirmatively with USCIS
The time of your asylum clock begins on the day USCIS receives your application, not on the day you submitted it.
If you filed online, USCIS receives your application immediately, so these two days will be the same. If you submitted your application by mail, USCIS will send you a Receipt Notice confirming that they have received your application. The date listed on the receipt notice is the day when you may start counting your asylum clock.
You should be able to apply for a work permit (Employment Authorization Document) if your clock is at 150 days or more.
If you never received a Receipt Notice from USCIS, and you applied online, you may find it by logging in to your USCIS online account and downloading it directly from there.
If you applied by mail, you may follow up with USCIS by reaching out to the USCIS Contact Center at 1 (800) 375-5283 or by submitting a Case Inquiry, depending on your situation, at the following website: https://egov.uscis.gov/e-request/. You may also reach out to USCIS if you feel there is an issue with your clock.
*This information is for general guidance purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult with an immigration attorney if your situation is different or if you have specific questions about your case.
If you want to understand more, you can watch these videos:
In English
En español