Legal Information
Health Professionals'
Role
Please use the PowerPoint presentations and checklists provided here to help your clients/patients prepare for their affirmative asylum
interviews or merits hearings. In addition, the powerpoint presentation
and checklist specifically for expert witnesses will aid you in
navigating the asylum process.
- Click here for expert witness information
Writing a Medical/Psychological Affidavit
Medical/psychological affidavits have evolved since the Denmark
Amnesty International Medical Group developed one of the first
guidelines during the 1970s (1). Nevertheless, the essential
parts of a medical/psychological affidavit remain the same: Identification
of the patient, qualifications of the clinician, history, physical
and mental exams, laboratory and radiographs, psychological instruments,
opinions, and conclusions (1-4).
Recently, several well-known organizations from all over the world
have drafted new guidelines on how to conduct an interview with
a refugee or a survivor of torture and how to write an affidavit.
The Istanbul Protocol was submitted to the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights in August 1999 (4). We encourage
all readers who wish to learn how to conduct an interview and to
write an affidavit to read the Protocol in its entirety.
To order a copy, please
visit Physicians for Human Rights.
Available at: http://www.phrusa.org/publications/asylum.html
References:
1. United States Department of Justice. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Annual Report: Asylees, Fiscal Year 1997.
2. United States Department of Justice. Immigration and Naturalization Service. How do I Apply for Asylum?
3. United States Department of Justice. Immigration and Naturalization Service. US Asylum and Refugee Policy. Available at: http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/factsheets/asylum.htm
4. Physicians for Human Rights. Medical Testimony on Victims of Torture: A Physician’s Guide to Political Asylum Cases. Boston, 1991.
5. O’Sullivan M. The Substance of an Asylum Claim: The Theory of the Case. In: Political Asylum Immigration Representation Project. Representing Asylum Seekers. Boston, 1999. p I-1 – I-24.
6. Ignatius S. Asylum and Withholding of Removal. In: Political Asylum Immigration Representation Project. Representing Asylum Seekers. Boston, 1999. p I-25 – I-58.
7. McHaffey DK. Navigating the INS and EOIR: Practice Tips, Descriptions and Definitions. In: Political Asylum Immigration Representation Project. Representing Asylum Seekers. Boston, 1999. p V-1 – V-40.
8. MacPherson S. Documenting Asylum Claims. In: Political Asylum Immigration Representation Project. Representing Asylum Seekers. Boston, 1999. p IV-1 – IV-21.
9. USCIS Affirmative Asylum Procedures Manual. Available at: http://uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/handbook/hnmanual.htm
Links:
To keep up to date with the USA's asylum law, see: http://uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/index.htm
To view the USCIS application forms for asylum and withholding of removal and their instructions: http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/i-589.htm
To view country conditions reports:
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