9th Circuit: Asylum Application By Muslim Convert To Christianity Was Timely

In Taslimi v. Holder, (9th Cir., Jan. 4, 2010), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that an Iranian woman who had converted from Islam to Christianity while in the United States had not waited too long to apply for asylum. The conversion took place in 2002, ten years after she entered the United States on a one-year visitor's visa. The immigration judge concluded that Azra Taslimi was eligible for withholding of removal because it was likely her life or freedom would be threatened in Iran. However Taslimi preferred asylum since that would give her the chance to eventually become a legal permanent resident and eventually a citizen. (Background.) To obtain asylum, an individual must apply within one year of entering the country or within a "reasonable period" later after a change of circumstances (such as her conversion). Taslimi waited seven months after her conversion. The Court of Appeals concluded that this was reasonable because the conversion ceremony was merely the beginning of a process that called for spiritual growth. Taslimi did not apply for asylum immediately because she wanted to be sure that her conversion was going to be a life-long decision. The Los Angeles Metropolitan News-Enterprise reports on the decision.