Asylum officer questions January 2025

Your passport has many dates in it? Using it, can you write a history about yourself- where were you, over the years?

Was it difficult to get your passport? where did you use it?

How did you get your tourist visa? Form DS-160? your asylum officer has a copy, but you don't?

Were you harmed in your country? how many times? did you suffer physical harm? how many times? were you threatened? how many times?

Can I open your Facebook account, right now?

You say the man hit you? what was he wearing? what did he say? what weapons did he use? where on your body did he hit you? why was he hitting you? he wanted to punish you? why

 Asylum officer questions to an activist from Burma on February 16, 2026

Anyone help you with your Written Statement? how did he help you? How did you write it?

To get your tourist visa, did you tell lies in your written application? why? did you tell lies, in response to oral questions at the US Embassy? why?

Tell me about all of your international travel. Did any country offer you permanent residence? Why didn't  you apply for asylum in any of those countries?

Tell me about your immigration status in USA: did you miss the one-year deadline? why? why not apply for asylum sooner? why not depart from your country sooner?

Why did you apply for asylum, when you did? Why did you depart from your country?

Did you suffer harm in your country? how many times? who harmed you, and why?

Were you targeted? Are you special? The government has a specific interest in you? 

Tell me the name of your relative who gave you information

Who do you fear? why is your government angry at you? If they were angry at you, why weren't you arrested when you went to the airport, to depart?

How many threats did you get in 2021? in 2022? in 2023?

Were you a member of a party or an organization? Did that group write a letter of support for you? why not?

What is the platform of the NLD? what is its mission? when did you begin to support it? why? how did you hear about it? tell me the name of your friend who told you about it. Did the party have a reputation? did people have common knowledge about it? when was the last time you supported it? what kind of support did you give?

How did you participate in campaingns? what would a cell phone video show? Did you post on Facebook? did you print out any of your postings?

How did the government find out about your activities? what does dalan mean? what does ISI mean? [Informers/Spies/Infiltrators] How did the government get informatin about you? did anyone tell you, that the government had information about you?

What would happen if you return to your country? Your government has forgotten about you, haven't they? What were your activities in USA? when you stood in front of the Embassy, what did you do? Did anyone notice that you were there?

Where do you get information from? what channel? when was the last time you were active in USA? how did you find out there was going to be protest on Sunday afternoon?

How would government know about your activities? who told you that? How do you know the government has lots of spies? Do you know anyone who protested in USA, and then got arrested upon return to Burma? How do you know that? how would government know if you return to Burma?

Why didn't they kill you, when you were in Burma? Who says the government is still interested in you? Years have gone by, yes?

If you return, would you continue to be active in anti-government groups? what would you do? you had trouble in Yangon? OK, so why not go live in Mandalay?

Fernando Pineiro, FOIA director for ICE, filed this declaration in court on September 30, 2025. To read it, click on this link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17TmKyJH-8I0buNmBPCfnCtL5_jolU6nQ/view?usp=sharing 

 Questions asked of an activist

What is the motive of the bad guys? You say they want to punish the people? why? are some people in your country punished more than others? why?

What is your WRITTEN STATEMENT? how was it prepared? did anyone help you? how did he help? He made it chronological and described harm and threats?

Were you harmed or threatened in your country? How many times? When was the first time? last time? worst time?

What is "physical" harm? What is "emotional" harm? Is living under constant threat of harm quite painful? Is the entire country a prison? Just like in prison, you are under constant surveillance by people with guns? You need permission to travel? to sleep at your uncle's house?

The officer came near you? What did you see? what was he wearing? What expression was on his face? A big smile? what weapons did he have? what words did he say? 

How did he harm you?

At the moment of your arrest, where were you? what words did the officer say? What thoughts went through your mind?

Were you a member of a political group or a political party? did they give you a membership card? write a letter of support for you? 

How many protests did you attend in your country? how many in USA?

You were detained for three days? What did they tell you, on the day of your release?

What happened at the Yangon airport, when you went there to depart? What words were said? how did you pay the bribe? put cash into an envelope? put cash into your passport? how much?

how did you know how much to pay?

Did the ward officials visit every house on your street, or just yours? Were you treated differently from others? How, and why?

Is the government still looking for you? they have forgotten about you, haven't they?

Why did you decide to begin protesting in February 2021? why did you decide to protest in USA?

What is "material support"? Is it "something of value"? Did you give material support to a group that the USA believes is a terrorist group?

 November 2025: common questions that Asylum Officers ask:

In your country, did you suffer harm or threats? How many times? What do you mean, when you say, "Every day in my country is being under threat"?

That means: the government hates the people, and harasses, extorts, threatens, arrests, and kills people every day. The government is mean and nasty. Police can come and take you away at any time of any day.

Did you suffer physical harm? How many times? When was the first time? when was the last time? when was the worst time? When the officer was hurting you, what words did he say? Do you remember the words he said? Can you repeat them now?

What WORDS did the officer say?

Were you threatened? how many times? when was the first? when was the last? which was the worst? What WORDS did the officer say?

How were the threats given to you? 1] the officer stood three feet away and shouted at me, face-to-face 2] the officer said threats over the phone 3] the official made threats on television

4] the official made threats on the radio 5] the official made threats in the newspaper 6] they put megaphones on car roofs, drove slowly down the street, and yelled at the people

 Questions asked of an activist from Burma:

Who helped you write your Written Statement? how did he help you? He made it shorter, and made it in chronological order?

Who helped you prepare your application for a visa? I have a copy of your visa in my computer, and I just read it, but you have not read it yourself? I know more about your visa application than you do? Is that embarrassing to you? What lies did you tell in your application?

Where is a copy of your first passport? Your second passport? Your government promptly and easily gives you passports, when you ask?

A soldier yelled at your uncle in December 2024 in the city of Mandalay? What words did he say? Did the soldier make any "indirect" or "implied" threats? Is there a difference between a direct, express, and clear threat, and a threat that is implied, indirect, or suggested?

Why did you apply for asylum? Because you fear  your government? Why are you in fear? Because they are angry at you? Why are they angry? For just one reason, or for more than one reason?

Did you suffer any harm? How many different kinds of harm are there? Physical, emotional, financial-economic, and "social" harm? 

Let's talk about physical harm. How many times did you suffer harm that was physical? When was the first time? Which was the worst?

Why did the soldier hit  you with his rifle butt? You think because he hated your ethnic group? Why do you think that? what words did the soldier say? when you told your uncles about this, did your uncle have an opinion as to why the soldier hit you?

There were seven houses on the street. Bamar people lived in six of them, and in house # 7, lived a non-Bamar family? Which house was burned? #7? Why was # 7 burned but the other six were not?

Everyone in Burma suffers, yes? Do non-Bamar people suffer more, or suffer dis-proportionately, compared to Bamar? How so?

 Asylum officer questions to an ethnic minority applicant from Burma:

When you applied for your tourist visa, you answered questions in Form DS-160? You were asked if you had ever been arrested? You were asked when you planned to return?

What does RTDC stand for? {Return To Dangerous Country] If you voluntarily return to your country, that you now say is "dangerous," doesn't that show your country is not dangerous?

Did you re-new your passport? You asked your country for something, and they did it? That shows they like you? 

You went to the airport to depart from your country, and they said, "Oh, you want to depart? Sure. Of course. We will do what you say: we allow you to depart." This shows your country likes you, and will not hurt you in the future?

Most people in Burma are members of the Bamar ethnic group? If you stand on the street, in silence, what does a soldier see? He sees a person with your skin color, your facial features, and your clothes? He knows, just by looking, that you are not a Bamar? Really? How do you know that?