## Facts

- The respondent, a native and citizen of Mauritania and member of the black Wolof ethnic group, was arrested and beaten by Mauritanian soldiers in 1990 and detained for about a month under abusive conditions, including forced labor.
- After detention, he was forcibly deported to Senegal, where he lived for more than eight years.
- In Senegal, he married a Senegalese citizen, had two children, worked selling clothing in a market, and received a Senegalese government identification number for foreigners.
- He did not apply for permanent legal status in Senegal and testified he felt insecure because he lacked legal status and Senegal was close to Mauritania.
- The Immigration Judge found the respondent credible, found past persecution and a well-founded fear of future persecution, and granted asylum.
- DHS appealed, asserting the asylum firm-resettlement bar applied based on the respondent’s time and circumstances in Senegal.

## Issues

1. What evidentiary and burden-shifting framework governs whether an asylum applicant was “firmly resettled” in a third country under INA § 208(b)(2)(A)(vi) and 8 C.F.R. § 1208.15?
2. Whether DHS may meet its initial burden through indirect evidence when direct evidence of permanent status is unavailable, and what level of strength such indirect evidence must have.
3. Whether the legal availability of permanent resident status in the third country can establish a prima facie “offer” of firm resettlement even if the applicant never applied for that status.

## Decision

- The BIA articulated a structured framework for firm-resettlement determinations that centers on whether there was an offer (or legally available avenue) of permanent resettlement.
- The BIA held DHS bears the initial burden to make a prima facie showing of an offer of firm resettlement using direct evidence when available, or sufficiently clear and forceful indirect evidence when direct evidence is unavailable.
- The BIA held the applicant may rebut DHS’s showing by a preponderance of the evidence by proving no offer existed or that the applicant would be ineligible for such status.
- The BIA held that evidence permanent resident status is available under the third country’s law may be sufficient to establish DHS’s prima facie case, and firm resettlement does not depend on whether the applicant applied for that status.
- The BIA remanded for the Immigration Judge to apply the clarified framework to the record regarding alleged firm resettlement in Senegal.

## Legal Principles

- The firm-resettlement inquiry under 8 C.F.R. § 1208.15 focuses on the existence of an offer of permanent resident status, citizenship, or other permanent resettlement, rather than an open-ended assessment of living conditions.
- DHS must first present prima facie evidence of an offer of firm resettlement:
  - Direct evidence includes documentation showing the ability to remain indefinitely (e.g., a residence permit or formal offer).
  - Indirect evidence is permissible only if it has sufficient clarity and force to show the ability to reside permanently (e.g., immigration procedures, length and nature of stay, family and economic ties, legal rights, and government assistance).
- Once DHS establishes a prima facie offer, the applicant must rebut it by a preponderance of the evidence by showing the offer was not made or the applicant would not qualify for it.
- The adjudicator then evaluates the totality of the evidence to decide whether the applicant successfully rebutted DHS’s prima facie showing.
- If firm resettlement is found, the applicant bears the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that a regulatory exception applies under 8 C.F.R. § 1208.15(a)–(b).

## Conclusion

The BIA held that firm resettlement for asylum purposes turns on whether a third country offered, or made permanently available as a matter of law, a durable status allowing indefinite residence, established a burden-shifting method for proving and rebutting such an offer, and remanded for application of that method to the respondent’s residence in Senegal.


Matter of A-G-G-, 25 I. & N. Dec. 486 (B.I.A. 2011)