The U-Visa: An Immigration Benefit for Crime Victims

Almost twenty-one years ago, Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 ("VTVPA"), which encourages victims to report crimes and contribute to investigations and prosecutions regardless of their immigration status. In addition, the law provides support for investigating and prosecuting crimes committed against immigrant victims. The VTVPA helped establish the U visa, which is an immigration benefit that can be sought by crime victims who are assisting or have assisted law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of a crime or are likely to be helpful in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity.

The U visa provides nonimmigrant status to eligible individuals, which authorizes their temporary stay in the United States to aid law enforcement. Once granted, U visa status lasts for 4 years and U visa holders can become eligible to obtain a greencard after three years. Unfortunately, Congress has set a cap of 10,000 visas in this category, per year, and the cap continues to be met year over year since 2010, resulting in an incredibly long wait list (estimated backlog of 270,000 petitions). To date, the wait time for a U visa is currently ten years; however, USCIS has recently taken some steps to ease the burden of this wait by providing access to work authorization, deferred action, and other benefits for approvable petitions.

In order to be eligible for a U visa, you must meet the following guidelines:

You are the victim of a qualifying criminal activity
- Abduction, abusive sexual contact, blackmail, domestic violence, extortion, false imprisonment, female genital mutilation, felonious assault, fraud in foreign labor contracting, hostage, incest, involuntary servitude, kidnapping, manslaughter, murder, obstruction of justice, peonage, perjury, prostitution, rape, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, slave trade, stalking, torture, trafficking, witness tampering, unlawful criminal restraint, other related crimes (includes any similar activity where the elements of the crime are substantially similar).
- Qualifying criminal activity also includes attempt, conspiracy or solicitation to commit any of the above and other related crimes.
You have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse as a result of having been a victim of criminal activity
You have information about the criminal activity. If you are under the age of 16 or unable to provide information due to a disability, a parent, guardian or next friend may possess the information about the crime on your behalf.
You were helpful, are helpful, or are likely to be helpful to law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of the crime. If you are under the age of 16 or unable to provide information due to a disability, a parent, guardian, or next friend may assist law enforcement on your behalf.
The crime occurred in the United States or violated U.S. laws
You are admissible to the United States. If you are not admissible, you may apply for a waiver.

If you or someone you know was a victim of a crime, you may be eligible for a U visa and its accompanying benefits. You are strongly encouraged to contact an experienced immigration attorney to advise and guide you through this process.

Disclaimer: This blog post and similar posts are not to be considered as providing legal advice. The discussion here is meant for educational and informational purposes only and shall not create an attorney-client relationship with the readers of this content.