ASAP Member Benefits
Last updated November 3, 2022
The Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) is a membership organization of the largest community of asylum seekers in U.S. history. ASAP believes that asylum seekers can make great change by standing together. “I am so glad and proud to be a member of ASAP,” one member shared. “One of the best sentences I have read from ASAP is ‘you are not alone.’ Really, I have this feeling now.”
If you are an asylum seeker who is 18 years old or older, becoming an ASAP member provides you with opportunities to: (1) access critical resources about the asylum process, (2) ask questions to expert immigration attorneys and connect with a community of asylum seekers, and (3) work with other ASAP members to improve the asylum system.
If you are 14 to 17 years old, you will immediately receive an ASAP membership card, but you will begin to receive the benefits below when you turn 18.
To learn how to apply for ASAP membership, visit this page.
(1) ASAP members gain access to new resources about the asylum process that are viewed over 500,000 times each month.
ASAP regularly sends members resources about the asylum process by text message and email. Viewable from a cell phone, ASAP’s video and written resources help members to learn critical information about the asylum process. These resources are viewed by members over 500,000 times each month. By signing up for ASAP membership, asylum seekers gain access to new resources as soon as they are published.
One member shared, “Browsing through your website for the last few days gave us so much information and what’s more important — hope.”
Another member wrote, “Thanks to your instructions, I filled out my work permit application and it was approved!”
(2) ASAP members have the opportunity to ask questions of expert immigration attorneys and connect with a community of asylum seekers.
ASAP members can ask questions that are answered by our team of expert immigration attorneys. These attorneys have answered thousands of ASAP members’ questions about every aspect of the asylum process, including how to seek asylum with USCIS, how to seek asylum in immigration court, how to apply for a work permit, and more. Currently, ASAP members can ask questions by emailing [email protected] or by sending us a direct message on Instagram or Facebook (@asylumadvocacy).
After receiving a response from one of ASAP’s expert immigration attorneys, one member wrote: “Thank you so much for your help! Your email helped me to retrieve all the necessary information for a change of address, and I have managed to successfully change our address for everyone in our family.”
By joining ASAP, members join the largest collective of asylum seekers in U.S. history. In the future, ASAP will expand opportunities for more of our members to connect directly with each other and share stories about their experiences in the asylum process.
“When there are more of us, our voice becomes audible,” one member shared. You can learn more about ASAP’s growing community by viewing our interactive member data.
(3) ASAP members set ASAP’s priorities and collectively advocate to improve the asylum system.
ASAP members vote to collectively set ASAP’s priorities and guide ASAP’s work. For example, we asked ASAP members to share their ideas for how to improve the asylum system, and over 79,000 members responded! These ideas now guide ASAP’s decisions about what issues to focus on in our efforts to make the asylum system work better for asylum seekers.
ASAP members also receive opportunities to advocate collectively on specific issues. In 2020, thousands of ASAP members came together to challenge unfair rules from the Trump administration that made it harder for asylum seekers to get work permits. Since then, hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers have been able to receive work permits as a result of their efforts.
Finally, ASAP members also receive opportunities to speak out. ASAP members have spoken to national media outlets and high-ranking U.S. government officials about topics including access to work permits, the trauma of family separation, and much-needed changes to the asylum system.