We are often approached by clients who are willing to immigrate to the United States under the Political Asylum Program (political asylum). Most of them present the real facts of harassment in their native country.

Some clients make straightforward statements that they are doing well. Hence, they do not experience any harassment. However, they show their willingness to move to the United States due to high wages and salaries and living standards, as well as the opportunity to participate in the Social Security program provided by this developed country. We have to frankly explain to such potential clients that we are a U.S. licensed immigration lawyer`s office. Therefore, we do not make up stories and do not engage in illegal activities. We recommend that clients follow our lead.

However, some clients are not sure whether their harassment record will be accepted or denied by the U.S. Immigration Service – USCIS. We suggest that clients familiarize themselves with the following websites describing the current situation in their native country. These are known as Country Condition reports.

The Country Condition reports are an integral part of U.S. asylum cases.

Country Condition reports are published by governmental, relevant non-governmental institutions, and international organizations on a periodic basis. They describe the current situation in political, economic, social and legal areas of the country in general and in particular. The USCIS immigration officer relies on these reports to compare your request with the situation in your country to draw a conclusion concerning the actual potential for harassment and persecution in your particular case.

Country Condition reports are an important part of your case. You can find them on the following websites:

	www.osce.org — The official OSCE website where you can find flash reports and daily reports on the current situation in the flashpoints. There are also thematic reports and reference materials on military conflicts and the human rights violations in many countries. The special section dedicated to the crisis and harassment in Ukraine may also be useful for Ukrainians seeking political asylum in the USA.
	www.state.gov — The official website of the U.S. Department of State. We encourage you to visit this site. This section contains the reports on all countries, describing the current situation in the country in the areas of religious freedom, human rights, freedom of speech, democratic freedoms, and more. For instance, there is a report on harassment of religious organizations in Russia and a report on human rights, which play an important role while applying for political asylum in the USA for Russians.
	www.amnesty.org — The official website of the global human rights movement, where you can find the reports on all countries as well the examples of human rights violations. For instance, the section on the current situation in Kazakhstan or the report оn impunity for torture and other ill-treatment in Kazakhstan indicates the current nature of the harassment in that country.
	www.hrw.org — The principle website dedicated to human rights, containing annual and quarterly reports, as well as publications on legal issues around the world. If you are a refugee from Kyrgyzstan in the U.S., you can find the information on deterioration of the human rights situation in Kyrgyzstan here.
	cpj.org — The website of the Committee to Protect Journalists. This site is particularly useful if the core of your case is the harassment in the area of journalism and the media. If you are a journalist and you are seeking political asylum in the U.S. from Belarus, then you can find some evidence of harassment of journalists here.

There are many more resources with information on the current situation in different countries. We recommend you check the reports and publications on the following websites: freedomhouse.org, www.fidh.org, en.rsf.org, humanrightsfirst.org.

If you find information describing the situation in your country and you reasonably believe that you have also been persecuted or harassed in your country, or you have a well-grounded fear of being subjected to such persecution - briefly describe your specific situation on 2-3 pages and submit it to us. Please, also fill out the Application on our website.

Immigration attorney will carefully review your history, and you will receive an unbiased assessment of your chance to immigrate to the United States under the political asylum program. Moreover, we will assist you with the proper execution of the petition in accordance with the constantly changing requirements of the U.S. Immigration Service.

ACS Inc. are located in the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento. However, over the last 26 years, we have successfully helped clients located in many American cities who are from the countries of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and from China – and we continue to do so.