Asylum through Immigration Court for Whistleblower from Azerbaijan

I.S. Law Firm, PLLC secured grant of asylum in immigration court for our client who had uncovered a money laundering scheme in his native Azerbaijan and suffered persecution in retaliation for his efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Attorney Ismail Shahtakhtinski demonstrated to the satisfaction of the immigration judge that the government of Azerbaijan had interrogated, physically harmed, threatened, intimidated and extorted our client, because he blew the whistle on illegal monetary transactions involving high-level Azerbaijani officials. We also demonstrated by ample country evidence that our client would suffer future persecution if he was returned to Azerbaijan.

In this particular case, our client initially applied for asylum through asylum office, before retaining I.S. Law Firm. Unfortunately, our client’s initial asylum application was poorly documented, and there was significant miscommunication with the interpreter at our client’s initial asylum interview. As a result, our client’s case was transferred to immigration court. That was when he retained our services.

In preparation for our client’s asylum hearing in immigration court, we collected information about the money laundering scheme discovered by our client, obtained objective evidence to support our client’s story, and prepared country reports showing general conditions in Azerbaijan in relation to corruption and treatment of anti-corruption activists. We ensured that our client’s story was clearly presented and corroborated by a variety of evidence. We thoroughly prepared our client for questioning by the Department of Homeland Security in advance of the asylum hearing and went through every issue that we anticipated to be raised because of the previous unfortunate mishandling of our client’s case. At the asylum hearing, attorney Ismail Shahtakhtinski made sure that every potential issue in our client’s case was properly addressed and explained. As a result, we were able to have our client’s asylum application approved by immigration court.

Asylum applicants whose cases are not approved by asylum office have another chance to present their cases in immigration court. However, asylum process through immigration court is much more difficult than through asylum office. In immigration court, the respondent is just one step away from deportation order if his or her application for asylum is denied. Importantly, immigration court proceedings take years, whereas asylum offices usually schedule an interview within several months, and decide on the case within a few weeks after the asylum interview. To be represented in immigration court by a lawyer, asylum applicant has to pay additional attorney’s fees, which could have been avoided had the case been approved by asylum office.

Attorneys at I.S. Law Firm thoroughly prepare every client for their asylum interviews and asylum hearings. We collect country condition reports and prepare memorandum in support of every asylum petition we handle. At the asylum interview or hearing, our attorney makes sure that our client’s case is adequately presented and there are no misunderstandings or confusion. Although every case is unique and the same results cannot be guaranteed in your specific case, our firm has over 95% success rate from asylum offices around the country. We pay individual attention to every client, make every case personal to us, and put all of our efforts to not just do our job, but to win every case.

Lawyers at I.S. Law Firm have helped many foreign nationals obtain asylum status, both through asylum offices and immigration courts. To learn more about asylum process, visit: /immigration-law/asylum/. You can also read more about our successful asylum cases:

PLEASE NOTE THAT CASE RESULTS DEPEND UPON A VARIETY OF FACTORS UNIQUE TO EACH CASE. CASE RESULTS DESCRIBED BELOW DO NOT GUARANTEE OR PREDICT A SIMILAR RESULT IN ANY FUTURE CASE UNDERTAKEN BY I.S. LAW FIRM, PLLC.

If you think you may qualify for asylum, please contact us by phone at +1-703-527-1779 or via e-mail: [email protected].