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U Visa for Immigrants who are Victims of Crimes
| Immigration Articles >> United States Visas >> U Visa for Immigrants Victims of Crimes |
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 General Information:
The purpose of the U visa is give victims of certain crimes temporary legal
status and work eligibility in the United States for up to 4 years. The U visa
is a nonimmigrant visa and only 10,000 U visas may be issued every fiscal year.
Family members may also be included on the petition including spouses, children,
unmarried sisters and brothers under 18, mothers, fathers, as well as stepparents
and adoptive parents. An approved U visa petition will automatically grant the
applicant work eligibility in the United States. An Employment Authorization
Document will be included with all approved petitions, which can be shown to any
employer to obtain a Social Security Number to start work legally. Currently all
U visa applications are filed at the Vermont Service Center.
U Visa Application: An application for the U visa is filed with
Form I-918, and there are different requirements
that must be satisfied before an application can be submitted. The applicant
must have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse due to a criminal
activity in at least one of the following categories: rape, torture,
trafficking, incest, domestic violence, sexual assault, abusive sexual contact,
prostitution, sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, hostage situations, peonage, false imprisonment, involuntary servitude, slave trade,
kidnapping, abduction, unlawful criminal restraint, blackmail, extortion,
manslaughter, murder, felonious assault, witness tampering, obstruction of
justice, perjury or attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit any of the
above mentioned crimes.
All petitions must include information on how the victim can assist government
officials in learning more about the crime including investigation and/or prosecution
of the individual(s) that committed the crime. The victim must also be willing
to work with local law enforcement. The crime must have occurred in the
United States or in a U.S. territory, or violated U.S. law.
A portion of Form I-918 must be certified by a
Federal, State or local law enforcement agency, such as a prosecutor or a
Federal or State judge in charge of the investigation in which the petitioner is
the victim. Without this certification, the U visa petition cannot be submitted.
However, a certification alone is not enough to establish eligibility as all
facts around the petition will be considered. The certifying individual must be
the head of the agency or a person designated to issue U
nonimmigrant certifications. If at any point the victim stops to cooperate with
law enforcement, the certification can be withdrawn.
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