It’s a trick question because each asylum case is unique. Therefore, your asylum officer might ask questions during an interview that are relevant to your case. For example, they might ask questions about your religion if you’re trying to obtain asylum based on religious grounds.
What you need to be ready for is that asylum officers always perform background checks on asylum seekers, so you need to:
- Prepare for asylum interview.
That is, you have to know your story well and be able to explain all details using the same words and wording. Asylum officers always attempt to trick asylum seekers by asking to describe the conditions the seekers lived or how they were tortured. If you use different words when describing what happened, asylum officers will deem your story untrue.
For example, if you say you were kicked in the face, the asylum officer might ask you how many times you were punched in the face. If you don’t correct the asylum officer (by saying that you were kicked not punched in the face), the officer might consider your story misleading or inaccurate, thus concluding you’re lying.
These kind of questions are especially important if you’re not a native speaker as you might not know slight differences in meaning of words. It’s best for you to consult an immigration lawyer or hire an interpreter so that they can help you express your thoughts using the same words.
If you can, ask an immigration lawyer to assist you during the interview. Your lawyer will be able to clarify certain questions from asylum officers and protect you from the questions that are asked to confuse you to reject your application for asylum.
- Ask for additional accommodations.
Many asylum seekers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or have a memory loss. You need to inform your asylum officer about that before the interview. If you have any evidence from a doctor about conditions, you should provide that also.
- Always tell the truth.
It’s very important that you always stick to facts and never lie during your asylum interview. If the asylum officer asked a question you don’t know answer for, don’t panic and don’t try to improvise a short story trying to answer that question.