Most guides to the asylum interview describe the legal process. This one describes the day — the security line, the wait, the room, how long you will really be there, and the mistakes that cost people their interview date.
We are interpreters. We have sat through these interviews at the Bethpage asylum office and at the Queens Field Office in Long Island City. What follows is USCIS procedure, sourced and linked, plus what it is actually like in the room.
We are not attorneys and this is not legal advice. For anything about your case, speak to your lawyer.
Before the day
Check your interview notice carefully. The address on it is the authority — not this page, not a map, not what a friend was told. Three locations serve this region and they are in two different states.
Check your biometrics are complete. This one quietly derails people. If you or any dependent did not have a full 10-print fingerprint record taken at an Application Support Center, contact the asylum office as soon as your interview notice arrives. If biometrics are incomplete, the office will reschedule your interview — and a rescheduled interview has consequences of its own.
Arrange your interpreter. USCIS does not provide one. If you cannot proceed in English, you must bring a competent interpreter, at your own expense. Sign language is the only exception, provided as a disability accommodation. → Asylum interpreter requirements
Confirm how your attorney is attending. Since 18 May 2026, attorneys and accredited representatives may no longer participate remotely in affirmative asylum interviews, except in limited circumstances. They must be physically present. If yours planned to join by phone or video, resolve it early.
What to bring
- Identification — any passports, other travel or identity documents, and your Form I-94 if you received one on arrival.
- Originals of any birth certificates, marriage certificates or other documents you filed with your Form I-589.
- A copy of your Form I-589 and everything you submitted with it, in case the asylum office is missing anything.
- Any additional evidence supporting your claim that you have not already submitted.
- Certified English translations of any document not in English. The translator must certify the translation is complete and correct, and that they are competent to translate that language.
- Your interpreter, if you cannot be interviewed in English.
- Your spouse and children under 21, if they were included as derivatives when you filed. They should bring their own identity and travel documents. You only need to bring the family members who will be included in the asylum decision — not everyone listed on the application.
The day itself
Security is run like an airport. A screening line, bags through a scanner, pockets emptied. Travel light, and give yourself proper time — being stuck in the queue when your appointment time passes helps nobody.
Then you wait. This is the part no notice prepares you for. At both Bethpage and Long Island City we have seen roughly an hour and a half from arriving to being called in.
The interview generally lasts at least an hour, and often longer.
So the realistic arithmetic is 90 minutes of screening and waiting, an hour or more of interview, plus travel at both ends. Three to four hours is a normal day, and it can run longer.
Do not schedule anything afterwards. No work shift, no school pickup, no second appointment, no flight. People who book something for the afternoon spend the most important conversation of their case watching the clock — and it shows in their answers.
Inside the room
You take an oath promising to tell the truth. Your interpreter takes an oath promising to interpret accurately and truthfully.
The officer verifies your identity, asks basic biographical questions, then asks about the reasons you are applying for asylum, and finally asks questions aimed at whether any bar prevents you from applying or being granted asylum.
If you are using an interpreter, a USCIS contract interpreter monitors by telephone. Their role is limited to monitoring your interpreter’s work, but USCIS says they may interject if the interpretation is not adequate, accurate and neutral. In our experience the monitor is audible in the room throughout.
The officer knows this is hard. USCIS says as much — the officer understands it may be difficult to talk about traumatic and painful experiences. But they also need you to talk about them, because that is what the decision rests on.
Your information is confidential. In general, information relating to your asylum claim cannot be shared with third parties without your written consent or specific authorisation from the Secretary of Homeland Security. Limited exceptions are set out at 8 CFR 208.6.
At the end, you and your representative have time to make a statement or add anything further.
No decision is made on the day. Nobody will tell you the outcome before you leave.
If you miss your interview
This is the section worth reading before you need it.
Shortly after a missed interview you will receive a Failure to Appear Warning Letter from the asylum office. It explains the consequences and how to ask for a new date before your case is referred to immigration court.
- Request received within 45 days of the missed date — you must establish good cause.
- Request received more than 45 days after — you must establish exceptional circumstances, a higher standard.
If 46 days pass with no request:
- If you are not in lawful immigration status, the office refers your case to an immigration judge and sends a Referral Notice for Failure to Appear.
- If you are in lawful immigration status, the office administratively closes your case and sends a Dismissal of Asylum Application – Failure to Appear.
A missed interview also counts as an applicant-caused delay for employment authorisation purposes. You may file Form I-765 based on a pending asylum application 150 days after filing, and you are not eligible for the document until the application has been pending a further 30 days — 180 days in total.
This is why the interpreter question is not a small one. If you need an interpreter and do not bring one, or the one you bring is not fluent in both languages, and you cannot establish good cause, USCIS may treat it as a failure to appear — and everything in this section follows.
Rescheduling before the date
If you need to move your interview, you must either mail, fax or email a letter to the asylum office where it is scheduled, or go to that office and complete an In-Person Reschedule Request.
A telephone request will not be honoured. Your request must state the reason and include any relevant evidence. USCIS will notify you in writing either way, and send a new appointment notice if granted.
You must show good cause if you have already rescheduled once, if you are asking on the day of the interview, or if you missed the interview and are asking within 45 days. You must show exceptional circumstances if you missed it and are asking after 45 days.
One exception in your favour: if the interview notice was not mailed to the most recent address you gave USCIS, the office will reschedule without requiring good cause or exceptional circumstances.
Note that rescheduling is itself an applicant-caused delay, unresolved until you appear for the new date.
Where interviews are held in this region
- New York Asylum Office — 1065 Stewart Avenue, Bethpage NY. Serves Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and the lower Hudson Valley.
- Newark Asylum Office — 100 Mulberry Street, Newark NJ, plus a Manhattan branch at 201 Varick Street. Serves Manhattan, the Bronx, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania and upstate New York.
- Queens Field Office — 31-00 47th Avenue, Long Island City. Not listed as an asylum office by USCIS, but asylum interviews are held there.
Manhattan and the Bronx go to Newark, not Bethpage. It catches people out constantly.
Need an interpreter?
Verbatim Interpreting LLC — interpreting in New York since 1998, NAJIT member, more than 40 languages, covering the five boroughs, Nassau and Suffolk, New Jersey and Connecticut.
We have worked asylum interviews at Bethpage and Long Island City, so we know the buildings, the screening and the waiting — and we plan for the real length of the day, not the hour people expect.
Call (718) 496-9129 or email inquiries@interpret.agency, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, seven days a week. Payment in full reserves your date.
Book an interpreter for your asylum interview → · USCIS interpreter requirements
¿Necesita un intérprete para su entrevista de asilo? Llámenos al (718) 496-9129. Hablamos español.
Common questions
How long is an asylum interview?
USCIS says generally at least an hour, though it varies. Plan for three to four hours in total once you count security, waiting and travel.
What questions will they ask?
The officer verifies your identity, asks basic biographical questions, asks why you are applying for asylum, and asks questions to determine whether any bar prevents you from applying or being granted asylum. Prepare with your attorney — we cannot advise on the substance of your claim.
Will I find out the decision at the interview?
No. No decision is made on the day.
Can I bring my children?
Bring your spouse and children under 21 if they were included as derivatives when you filed. You do not need to bring every family member listed on the application — only those who will be included in the decision.
Do I need to bring an interpreter?
Yes, if you cannot be interviewed in English. USCIS does not provide one, except sign language interpreters as a disability accommodation.
Can my lawyer attend by video?
No, not since 18 May 2026, except in limited circumstances. They must attend in person.
What if my attorney cannot make it?
Filing Form G-28 does not stop the asylum office processing your application without your attorney present. If a reschedule request is denied and your attorney is unavailable, you can either sign a waiver and proceed without them, or accept referral to immigration court — which is treated as though you failed to appear. You are responsible for ensuring your representative is there.
What if I am deaf or hard of hearing?
USCIS provides sign language interpreters as a disability accommodation. Contact the asylum office with jurisdiction over your case in advance, following the instructions on your notice.
Sources: USCIS — Preparing for Your Affirmative Asylum Interview · USCIS — Affirmative Asylum Applicants Must Provide Interpreters · USCIS — New York Asylum Office · USCIS — Newark Asylum Office · USCIS — Establishing Good Cause or Exceptional Circumstances · 8 CFR 208.9, 8 CFR 208.6, 8 CFR 208.7(a)(1). Last checked 18 August 2026.