Refugees/Asylees

Aliens fleeing persecution who are accorded refugee or asylum status can apply for permanent residence after one year. For fiscal year 2004, 70,000 overseas refugee visas are allocated. During the past two years, less than 50% of the allocations were utilized because of heightened national security priorities. There is no limit on the number of approvals of asylum applications for aliens already in the U.S. or applying at the border, but only 10,000 asylees per year are granted permanent status, so consequently we have a backlog of over four years. There is even a separate quota of 1000 numbers for asylum approvals for Chinese citizens based on subjection to coercive birth control methods.