Choosing the Visa Office in Country of Residence for an Asylum Seeker

[sarahgirgis]

Hello Everybody,

I have a question. I couldn't find the answer here or anywhere on the internet for that matter. I am currently in the USA. I arrived on a tourist visa in mid 2012. I applied for Asylum less than a year after landing, and my case is still pending in court. I received an employment authorization and a Social Security Number less than a year ago (all asylum seekers can apply for a work permit 180 days after applying for asylum). I applied for asylum affirmatively not defensively (that is I applied for asylum within the allowed 1-year window, voluntarily. I wasn't arrested or anything).
Now here is the question. I want to apply under the FSWP next may (if they open the program), in the application, question four, I must choose the immigration office to process my application, right? well I have two choices:
1. My Country of Nationality : but If I choose that office, and they ask for an interview, i'd have to go back there, and I can't go back (hence the asylum situation).
2. My Country of Residence, provided that I have been lawfully admitted to that country for at least one (1) year. But I have been lawfully admitted for only 3 months under the tourist visa. Does having a one-year work authorization constitute 'legal admission'. The stamp on my visa is only for 3 months, so a strict interpretation means I can't use the country of residence.

Now in the Documents Checklist pdf Under item Proof of Admission, they say:

If the visa office you have specified for processing your application is not the visa office responsible for your country of nationality, provide proof that you have been lawfully admitted for a period of at least one year to a country for which the specified visa office is responsible.
Proof of lawful admission is in the form of a stamp in the passport or a status document issued at the Port of Entry or other place of admission. If an extension of the original status has been obtained, the evidence required would be a document or stamp issued by the ministry responsible for immigration matters, providing an extension up to one year or beyond.
Submit photocopies of:
• current or expired entry/exit stamps in your national passport, and
• current or expired status documents indicating the date you were admitted and the validity.
Please note that the CIO-Sydney cannot be chosen as a visa office.

Now my question is: can my employment authorization and asylum case documents constitute an extension ?
Does anyone know if they generally accept asylum seekers? they seem to allow you to choose 'refugee claimant' or 'protected person' under legal status . But that's a secondary question.

Thanks everyone for your help