Osama Al Ramahi v. Eric Holder, Jr.

Osama AI Ramahi and Nisreen AI Sharif petition for review of the decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that extraordinary circumstances do not excuse their untimely applications for asylum. We deny the petition because substantial evidence supports the BIA’s conclusion that, even assuming the petitioners could demonstrate extraordinary circumstances, they did not file their applications within a “reasonable period given those circumstances.” 8 C.F.R. § 1208.4 (a)(5).

I

We begin by examining the statutory framework that governs the timeliness of asylum applications. To qualify for asylum, an alien must demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the alien’s application for asylum was “filed within 1 year after the date of the alien’s arrival in the United States.” 8 U.S.C. § 1158 (a)(2)(B); see Ramadan v. Gonzales, 479 F.3d 646, 649 (9th Cir.2007) (per curiam). There is a statutory exception to this one-year filing deadline: an alien may file a late application by demonstrating to the satisfaction of the Attorney General either (1) “the existence of changed circumstances which materially affect the applicant’s eligibility for asylum” or (2)…