Is this case qualified for religious asylum in US?

Question

I was wondering if the following description qualifies for religious asylum in US.

I didn't know about Christianity in China before moving to US, and the school education portraits it as something used by the West to filtrate into the society.

I became in contact with Christian church when I was an international student studying in US, mostly through their food distributions. My focus was on my study, and therefore, there were only a few times of their religious gathering that I went to or watched live on Facebook (during the Covid period). Although I didn't know much about Christianity, I came to understand why religion and faith mean so much to many people.

After moving back to China, I often think of the help and kindness from the churches in US, and become interested in learning more about Christianity and may want to become a christian. But I can only do that by reading things that I found from the Internet.

• I found that there were much fewer Christian churches in my city, and all of them are far away from where I live. The churches are monitored by the government, and therefore they are different from those in US. It is not easy to say what differences there are, but I am in the process of finding them out.

• There used to be some small underground family-run churches, but they were cracked down by the police. I can't find one even if there is any, because such information won't be public and can jeopardize their safety.

I was wondering if I am qualified for religious asylum in US, if I could go to US again.

What can I to do to improve my asylum qualification in US, while I am still in China? Is it wise to go against the local law and police and risk my safety to find an underground church to join?

Answer 1

As phoog says, to claim asylum you have to first travel to the country you wish to claim asylum in. That means getting a visa (unless you are from a country eligible for the Visa Waiver Program). When you get there you should tell the immigration officer that you wish to claim asylum.

In the US, as with other countries, asylum claims are decided on a personal basis. It is not enough to say "I am part of this group, and this group is persecuted in my country". You would have to show evidence that you personally are in danger. Being "monitored" in a general sense is not sufficient evidence of persecution. You have said nothing in the question about your experience of persecution. Without that any claim for asylum is extremely likely to be denied. You should also be aware that the standard for asylum is very high in the US.

Even if you have experience of such persecution, there are many countries much closer to you than the US who will welcome Christians. Korea comes to mind as an example.