The Board of Immigration Appeals has determined that an applicant who merely continues an activity in the United States that is substantially similar to the activity from which an initial claim of past persecution is alleged and that does not significantly increase the risk of future harm has not established changed circumstances that would excuse an untimely asylum application.
“The activity the respondent engaged in while in the United States— emailing Christian proselytizing messages to people in China—is substantially similar to the actions he undertook in China and represents a continuation of those religious activities without a significant change. The fact that the respondent continued his proselytizing activities after he entered the United States (albeit through a different medium) does not support a finding of changed circumstances since it was this very activity (proselytizing) in China that led him to leave his country originally. The respondent does not allege that he became involved in new activities related to Christianity in the United States; nor does his activity in this country raise a claim for asylum under a separate protected ground or on the basis of a newly articulated claim of future persecution. On the contrary, the respondent’s present claim remains premised on the same fear of the Chinese authorities he possessed prior to coming to the United States, as well as the same protected ground, and therefore does not adequately set forth a change in the respondent’s particular circumstances. Further, while the emails the respondent distributed may have generated renewed interest from the authorities, the record does not reflect that the respondent’s risk of persecution in China increased as a result of his email correspondence such that his claim to asylum, based on his activity in the United States, is significantly changed from his claim of past harm. In essence, it is the same claim he could have made during the 1-year period after he entered the United States.”
The full text of Matter of D-G-C- can be found here: