Opinion ID: 3066093
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The IJ Grants the Exceptional Circumstances

Text: Exception for Asylum At the removal hearing, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) argued that Bassene was ineligible for asylum because he filed his application after the one-year period designated by statute. See 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(B). Bassene submitted his citizenship application almost two years after he arrived in the United States, and about six months after his J-1 visa expired. Bassene argued that he was exempted from the one year filing period under the “extraordinary circumstances” exception because he filed the N-400 citizenship application less than six months after his J- 1 visa expired. See 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(D). The IJ agreed. The IJ also decided to treat Bassene’s mistakenly filed N-400 citizenship application as a quasi-asylum application.