Practitioner Resource · September 2026
Preparing Unaccompanied Child Asylum Cases
An Adjudication-Focused Guide for Practitioners
This free guide provides a structured and repeatable method for developing the factual record in an unaccompanied child asylum case. It helps practitioners identify legal and adjudicative issues early and prepare the case from intake through filing, interview preparation, post-interview development, adjudication, and, where applicable, later proceedings. It also includes practical resources and a standalone case-development checklist.
108 pages · September 2026
What This Guide Does
Build the life story first. Let the legal theories follow.
Rather than beginning with a predetermined particular social group, protected ground, or case label, the guide begins with the child: chronology, geography, family and household relationships, school and community life, migration, prior statements, records, organizational contacts, and other facts that may become material during adjudication.
From that developed record, practitioners can assess protected grounds and nexus, identify statutory bars and other potentially complicating issues, use country conditions as an investigative tool, and prepare the written record, the child, and counsel for the full adjudicative process.
Designed for repeated use rather than as a one-time questionnaire, the methodology can support intake and factual development, preparation or amendment of the Form I-589 and supporting record, interview preparation, post-interview development, adjudication, and, where applicable, later proceedings. Although developed principally for unaccompanied-child affirmative asylum cases, it can be adapted across countries, claims, and factual settings.
Inside the Guide
A practical framework for developing the case from intake through adjudication.
- 01
Why UAC asylum cases require distinct preparation
- 02
Life-history development
- 03
Protection claim and nexus
- 04
Cognizable particular social groups and other protected-ground theories
- 05
Bars and national-security issues
- 06
Other public-safety and adjudicative considerations
- 07
Filing strategy and the written record
- 08
Interview, post-interview, and later adjudication
- 09
Practitioner and adjudicator resources
- 10
Standalone case-development checklist
Who It Is For
Attorneys, accredited representatives, legal-services organizations, pro bono counsel, clinics, and advocates preparing asylum cases for unaccompanied children.
Download
Use the complete practitioner guide.
Download the free guide →Free to download, print, and share complete, unmodified copies for noncommercial educational, legal-services, and advocacy purposes with attribution.