Although South Africa is a relatively peaceful country were human rights are respected, there are still situation when South Africans seek asylum in the United States. We will review these situations further below.
Asylum for South Africans in the United States
Between 2001 and 2010 only 129 asylum seekers came from South Africa. All those people proved that they are eligible for asylum in the U.S. on the following grounds:
- Religion
- Nationality
- Membership in a social group
- Political views
- Race
You asylum case must be presented with all possible evidence to prove your eligibility. If the asylum officer or the Immigration Judge will not believe you, then you will be deported from the U.S. back to South Africa.
You should know that U.S. authorities concerned with immigration often deny applications filed by white applicants coming from South Africa. South Africa predominantly consists of the black race people, while white people comprise about 9 percent of population. And although any human is eligible for asylum under U.S. immigration laws, white South Africans’ applications are often rejected.
What this means is that you must do an extensive research to persuade the U.S. authorities of your eligibility for asylum. USCIS, a U.S. agency concerned with immigrants and asylum seekers, will require solid proofs that you personally will be persecuted in South Africa. Because United Nations consider South Africa a safe country, proving potential persecution would be very difficult.
You may consider consulting an immigration lawyer. Because immigration lawyers and attorneys have experience with asylum cases of South Africans, you may get a better chance against the U.S. immigration authorities.