If your affirmative asylum interview notice says Bethpage, this is the office it means. Officially it is the New York Asylum Office. Everyone calls it Bethpage, because that is where it sits — an office park on Long Island, not in New York City.
This page covers what the building is like, whether your case is actually assigned here, and the one requirement that catches more people out than any other: USCIS will not give you an interpreter. You have to bring your own.
We are interpreters, not attorneys. Nothing here is legal advice — for anything about your case, talk to your lawyer. What follows is procedure, taken from USCIS’s own published guidance.
Where it is
New York Asylum Office
1065 Stewart Avenue, Suite 200
Bethpage, NY 11714
Phone: (516) 261-0000
Hours: by appointment only, Monday to Friday. Closed Saturday and Sunday.
Parking: there is a designated lot, and it is free. That is unusual for a federal office and worth knowing — you do not need to budget for parking or circle the block.
Getting there by car: take the Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway to exit 9, Plainview Road, toward Plainview. Coming from the west, turn left onto Broadway; from the east, turn right. Slight right onto Cherry Avenue, then right onto Stewart Avenue. The office is on your left.
By public transport: the LIRR and NICE bus both serve the area. Give yourself more time than the app says.
One important change: since 20 April 2026 this office no longer provides in-person information services and does not accept walk-ins. You cannot turn up to ask a question. Use the USCIS Contact Center on 800-375-5283, or the office email, NewYork.Asylum@uscis.dhs.gov. Do not put your A-Number or Social Security number in an unencrypted email.
Is Bethpage actually your office?
This is where a lot of people go wrong, so check carefully. The New York Asylum Office serves these New York counties and no others:
Dutchess · Kings (Brooklyn) · Nassau · Orange · Putnam · Queens · Richmond (Staten Island) · Rockland · Suffolk · Sullivan · Ulster · Westchester
Read that list again and notice what is missing. The Bronx is not on it. Manhattan is not on it.
If you live in the Bronx or in Manhattan, your case belongs to the Newark Asylum Office, which also runs a branch on Varick Street in Manhattan. So two people living twenty minutes apart — one in Brooklyn, one in the Bronx — go to completely different asylum offices.
→ Guide to the Newark Asylum Office and its Manhattan branch
And a third location USCIS does not publish
There is one more place your interview can happen, and you will not find it on any USCIS asylum office page: the Queens Field Office in Long Island City, in the Falchi Building at 31-00 47th Avenue.
We know because we have interpreted at an affirmative asylum interview there — asylum officer, full I-589 questioning, telephonic interpreter monitor on the line. USCIS lists Long Island City as a field office and an Application Support Center, not an asylum office, so applicants scheduled there often assume the notice is wrong. It is not.
→ What to expect at a Long Island City asylum interview
Whatever this page says, your interview notice is the authority. Go by the address printed on it.
USCIS will not provide your interpreter
Since 13 September 2023, USCIS has not supplied interpreters for affirmative asylum interviews. The New York Asylum Office states its policy plainly: applicants who cannot proceed in English must provide, at no expense to USCIS, a competent interpreter fluent in both English and the applicant’s native language.
The only exception is sign language. USCIS still provides sign language interpreters as a disability accommodation — follow the instructions on your interview notice to request one.
Your interpreter must
- be fluent in English and in a language you speak fluently, and
- be at least 18 years old.
Your interpreter cannot be
- your attorney or accredited representative;
- a witness testifying on your behalf at the interview;
- a representative or employee of the government of your country of nationality (or, if you are stateless, your country of last habitual residence); or
- someone with a pending asylum application who has not yet been interviewed.
That last one deserves a moment. It rules out the friend who filed last year and is still waiting for their own interview — often exactly the person an applicant thinks of first, because they have been through the paperwork and speak the language. They are not allowed to interpret for you. Nothing about their intentions is the problem; the rule is categorical.
What happens if you bring the wrong person
USCIS is direct about this. If you need an interpreter and do not bring one, or your interpreter is not fluent in English and your language, and you cannot establish good cause, USCIS may treat it as a failure to appear for your interview. They may then dismiss your asylum application, or refer it to an immigration judge. Good cause is decided case by case.
There is a second consequence that gets less attention and hurts just as much. A cancelled interview counts as a delay you caused. And USCIS states that if you have filed Form I-765 for employment authorisation and there are outstanding applicant-caused delays, they will deny your Form I-765.
So the interpreter question is not really about the interpreter. It is about whether you keep your interview date, your application, and your permission to work.
Someone is listening to your interpreter
USCIS does not provide your interpreter, but it does use contract interpreters to monitor asylum interviews by telephone. Their job is to listen to your interpreter. USCIS says they may be expected to occasionally interject if your interpreter fails to provide adequate, accurate, and neutral interpretation.
Three words matter there: adequate, accurate, and neutral. A relative who loves you and wants you to be safe is not neutral, and it shows — in the softening, the summarising, the small helpful additions. A professional monitor hears that immediately.
Separately, on Form G-1256, the declaration used for interpreted USCIS interviews, USCIS notes that the interviewing officer can deny permission for your interpreter to participate. The officer has that power and can use it on the day.
Your interpreter will also be put under oath at the start, promising to interpret accurately and truthfully — the same kind of oath you take.
Security, and how long the day actually takes
Security is run like an airport. Expect a screening line, bags through a scanner, and the usual routine of emptying pockets. Travel light — the less you are carrying, the faster you are through. Give yourself real time for it.
Then comes the part nobody warns you about: the wait.
USCIS says the interview generally lasts at least an hour, sometimes considerably longer. That covers the interview only. It does not cover getting into the building or sitting in the waiting area afterwards. At the Bethpage interviews we have worked, it has been roughly an hour and a half from arrival to being called in.
So the realistic day is about 90 minutes of screening and waiting, plus an hour or more of interview, plus travel at both ends. Three to four hours is ordinary. It can run longer.
Do not schedule anything afterwards. No work shift, no school pickup, no second appointment. People who book something for the afternoon spend the most important conversation of their case watching the clock.
And this is the honest answer on interpreter pricing. You are not paying for an hour of talking. You are holding a professional for most of a day — screening, waiting, interview and travel — during which they cannot take other work. A fee that looks high against “one interview” is usually being measured against the wrong thing.
What the interview itself is like
You take an oath to tell the truth. Your interpreter takes an oath to interpret faithfully. The asylum officer verifies your identity, asks background questions, then asks why you are applying and works through anything that might bar your claim. No decision is made on the day.
The officer knows this means describing things that are painful to describe. That is the point of the interview, and it is why interpretation quality matters so much — your account is recorded through your interpreter’s words, and a summary or a softened phrase becomes an inconsistency in your file.
Your information is confidential. In general, information about your asylum claim cannot be shared with third parties without your written consent, subject to limited exceptions set out at 8 CFR 208.6.
What to bring: passports and travel or identity documents, your Form I-94 if you have one, the originals of any certificates you filed with your Form I-589, a copy of the I-589 itself and anything you submitted with it, any new supporting evidence, certified English translations of anything not in English, your interpreter, and any spouse or children under 21 included as derivatives.
One thing to check first: if you or a dependent did not have a full 10-print fingerprint record taken at the Application Support Center, contact the asylum office as soon as you get your interview notice. If biometrics are incomplete, the office will reschedule the interview.
Booking an interpreter for a Bethpage interview
We are Verbatim Interpreting LLC, run by Ozzie Cruz, a NAJIT member interpreting in New York since 1998. We dispatch interpreters in more than 40 languages and cover the five boroughs, Nassau and Suffolk, New Jersey and Connecticut.
We have interpreted asylum interviews at this office. We know the building, the screening, and how the waiting works — which means we are not finding our way around on your interview day, and we build the schedule around the real length of the appointment rather than the hour people expect.
We work in the same rooms as the monitors USCIS puts on the line. That is the standard we interpret to: complete, literal, neutral — no summarising, no helping, no editorialising. Everything you say, and only what you say.
How to book:
- Call (718) 496-9129 or email inquiries@interpret.agency, seven days a week, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM.
- Tell us the language, the date and time on your interview notice, and the office.
- Payment in full reserves the interpreter for your date. The final fee depends on location, time and case type.
- We confirm in writing, and we arrive early.
Book as soon as your notice arrives. Interview dates are hard to move and rescheduling has consequences of its own.
Book an interpreter for your asylum interview →
Most of our asylum work is in Spanish, but we cover more than 40 languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Haitian Creole, Arabic, Wolof, Punjabi and Uzbek. See our full asylum interpreting services.
¿Necesita un intérprete para su entrevista de asilo? Llámenos al (718) 496-9129. Hablamos español.
Common questions
Can my husband, sister or friend interpret for me?
Legally yes, if they are 18 or over, fluent in both languages, and not in one of the four barred categories. Whether it is wise is a different question. Asylum interviews use legal and medical vocabulary under emotional pressure, a USCIS contract interpreter is listening, and the officer can refuse to let your interpreter continue.
My friend also applied for asylum and is waiting for their interview. Can they interpret?
No. Someone with a pending asylum application who has not yet been interviewed is expressly barred.
Can my lawyer interpret?
No. Your attorney or accredited representative cannot serve as your interpreter. They can attend as your representative once Form G-28 is filed.
Does USCIS provide a phone interpreter?
No, not for spoken languages. That was a temporary COVID-era rule that ended on 12 September 2023. The contract interpreters USCIS uses now only monitor your interpreter.
What if I am deaf or hard of hearing?
USCIS provides sign language interpreters as a disability accommodation. Follow the instructions on your interview notice. Verbatim does not provide ASL.
Is there parking at Bethpage?
Yes — a designated lot, free.
What is security like?
Similar to an airport: a screening line, bags scanned, pockets emptied. Bring as little as you can and allow real time for it.
How long should I set aside?
Plan for the whole day, not an hour. In our experience it is around 90 minutes from arriving to being called in, then an hour or more of interview, plus travel.
Can I go to the office to ask a question before my interview?
No. Since 20 April 2026 the New York Asylum Office does not take walk-ins or provide in-person information services.
Sources: USCIS — Asylum Office, New York · USCIS — Preparing for Your Affirmative Asylum Interview · USCIS — Affirmative Asylum Applicants Must Provide Interpreters · USCIS — Form G-1256 · 8 CFR 208.9(g), 8 CFR 208.6. Last checked 18 August 2026. Procedures change — always follow your interview notice.