Gay Armenian-Russian man fleeing Russia obtains asylum

Client(s) R.S.

Jones Day obtained asylum for our client, a gay, ethnically Armenian-Russian man who fled Russia.

As a gay man, our client suffered severe persecution from the public and members of the police in Armenia and Russia. As a young child, he was beaten by family and assaulted by community members based on his sexual orientation. As an adult, he experienced verbal abuse and attacks from the public, ranging from homophobic slurs in his workplace to beatings and threats of stabbings in public. On numerous occasions, he was detained by the Russian police, held for hours in jail, and physically assaulted.

In 2017, he fled to the United States to escape his persecutors. For more than four years, Jones Day represented him in an affirmative asylum application with the office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”). On January 25, 2022, USCIS granted our client’s application for asylum, allowing him to lawfully remain in the United States indefinitely without fear of being returned to his persecutors in Russia or Armenia.