African Immigrant Rights Council

FROM THE DESK OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SHARIFA KALOKOLA
December 17, 2025

Asylum Denied: Respondent Used His Own Passport to Depart

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denied asylum to a Respondent (R) from Moldova. R testified that he was beaten twice by police in 2021 because of his political opinion. However, after those incidents, he lived in Moldova for several years without further harm.

When R later departed Moldova, he used his own passport at the airport, and no government official attempted to stop or arrest him. The BIA emphasized that R “lived for years in Moldova without harm” and that “he used his passport to depart from the airport in Moldova, and no government official tried to stop him.”

Matter of N-P-A-, 29 I&N Dec. 347 (BIA 2025)

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MORAL OF THE STORY

Be prepared to clearly answer questions such as:

• “Isn’t it true that your government has forgotten about you and is no longer angry?”
• “If the government wanted to harm you, why were you not arrested at the airport?”

POSSIBLE REMEDIES / EVIDENCE

• After your departure, did government officials question or harass your family about your whereabouts?
• Have you engaged in political activity in the United States that could bring you to your government’s attention?
• Did you pay a bribe to leave the country?
• Was the airport official sympathetic to your cause, indifferent, or simply following routine procedures?
• Did the airport official have access to arrest lists or police intelligence, and if so, were those records reviewed?