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Access to Status for Battered Immigrants and Victims of Other Crimes

The immigration law provides some remedies to immigrants without status when they are victims of domestic violence and other crimes. Battered immigrants married to US citizens or to lawful permanent residents have an avenue for gaining status independent of their batterers through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Immigrant victims of domestic violence and other crimes who are not eligible to self-petition through VAWA may be eligible for a U or T visa as a victim of crime or of trafficking. Generally these remedies require cooperation with law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of the crime. This section of the website contains articles and other information addressing these immigration remedies.

ARTICLES

Utilizing the U Visa to Combat Immigrant Services Fraud
Immigration services fraud, due to its devastation of countless vulnerable immigrant communities, has recently drawn increased attention from policy makers at the local and national levels. The New York State Attorney General’s Civil Rights Bureau rates this fraud as “an issue of national importance, affecting large segments of communities,” and has taken multiple actions against fraudulent services providers. Read More

Interoffice Memorandum: Determinations of Good Moral Character in VAWA- Based Self-Petitions
The purpose of this memorandum is to inform U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjudicators at the Vermont Service Center (VSC) of the change in the law concerning determinations of good moral character made in connection with VAWA-based self-petitions (Forms I-360). Read More

Questions and Answers: Filing T, U, and VAWA Petitions with USCIS
These Questions & Answers concern filing requirements for T, U, and VAWA petitions with USCIS. They also address requests for expedited processing, confidentiality issues, adjudicator training, petition processing for applicants in removal proceedings, and travel authorizations, among other issues. Read More


Access to Status for Battered Immigrants and Victims of Other Crimes: Article


IN THE NEWS

Locals assist with immigration laws
Local, state authorities sometimes drive immigration arrests Read More

A Matter of Life & Death: Advocates in New York Respond to Medical Repatriation
This article is about the response of one group of advocates to the practice of medical repatriation, also referred to as medical deportation, in which hospitals choose to send non-citizen patients, usually those in need of long-term care, back to their home countries for treatment without engaging the federal immigration process. Read More


Access to Status for Battered Immigrants and Victims of Other Crimes: In the News


POLICY ADVOCACY

Empire Justice Testimony on Economic Abuse as a Form of Domestic Abuse
Our testimony on critical issues impacting victims of domestic violence and their families. Read More