If you were a victim, the law can protect you. Your safety comes first.

There are immigration protections designed specifically for people who have suffered domestic violence, serious crimes, or human trafficking. Many victims don't know about them — or are afraid to seek help because their abuser convinced them that reporting would cost them their status. That is not true. These protections exist precisely so that a victim does not depend on their abuser.

The three main paths

VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) — Allows the spouse, child or parent of a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to file their own petition, without the abuser knowing or participating. It applies to men and women.

U Visa — For victims of certain serious crimes who suffered substantial harm and who cooperate with authorities in the investigation or prosecution.

T Visa — For victims of human trafficking, whether labor or sex trafficking.

What we do

• Assess which protection applies to your case, in a confidential conversation.
• Prepare the complete petition, including the personal declaration, which is the most delicate part of these cases.
• Handle the law enforcement certification required in U Visa cases.
• Pursue work permits where applicable.
• Take the case through to permanent residence when the person is eligible.
• Coordinate with your Immigration Court case, if you are in removal proceedings.

Confidentiality

Everything you tell us is confidential. In VAWA cases, the law provides specific protections so the abuser does not receive notice of the petition or access to the file.

Mistakes we see often

• Focusing only on physical abuse. Many people believe USCIS requires proof of extreme physical violence. That belief leads them to leave out financial control, psychological manipulation, and labor exploitation. Officers are trying to understand the whole picture. A professional psychological evaluation, detailed statements from people around you, and letters from support organizations are what show how a pattern of conduct affected a life.
• Assuming the case is impossible without the abuser's documents. A VAWA self-petition has to establish that the abusive spouse or relative is a citizen or permanent resident. After a separation, most people have no access to those papers and conclude the case cannot be built. USCIS can be formally asked to verify that status in its own systems. What we need from you is whatever exists: dates of birth, Social Security numbers, prior joint tax returns, earlier petition receipt numbers.
• Stopping cooperation after the certification is signed. For a U visa or T visa, law enforcement certification — Form I-918 Supplement B or Form I-914 Supplement B — is the engine of the case. Going quiet on the detective or the prosecutor after the signature, or missing court dates, can cost the benefit. Documenting every appearance is what protects the case.
• Relying on a written statement alone for shared residence. A VAWA self-petition needs to show you actually lived in the same household with the abuser and, for spouses, that the marriage was entered in good faith. Official mail addressed to both of you at the same address, a lease, children's school records, utility accounts covering that period.
• Hiding immigration history out of fear. Prior entries without inspection, old border detentions, earlier removals under another name. People conceal these believing disclosure will end the case. Biometric records unify a person's history regardless of the names used, and concealment is treated as fraud. Here is what almost nobody knows: VAWA, U and T are among the most generous provisions in immigration law, with unusually broad waivers for prior conduct. Disclosing everything is what makes those waivers available. Hiding it is what makes the case unwinnable.
• Not reporting a change of address. The law requires notifying USCIS within 10 days using Form AR-11, and the court separately if the case is in proceedings. When a biometrics notice, an interview, or a hearing goes to an old address and nobody appears, the case can be closed as abandoned or a judge can order removal in absentia. A winnable case becomes an emergency.

Any one of these deserves review before anything is filed.

What it costs

These three paths are treated differently from the rest of immigration law, and the fee structure reflects it:

• Form I-360 (VAWA self-petition), Form I-918 (U visa) and Form I-914 (T visa) carry no filing fee.
• Fee waivers for the related applications are available to VAWA self-petitioners and to T and U applicants — including for the adjustment of status application later, which for most other categories cannot be waived at all.
• Confirm current amounts on uscis.gov before filing. Fees and exemptions change.

The cost of these cases is not the government fee. It is the work of building the evidence.

If your petition is denied

What happens next depends heavily on which path you were on and where you are:

• An appeal to the Administrative Appeals Office is available for several of these petitions, on a short deadline from the date of the decision.
• A motion to reopen or reconsider, when there is new evidence or a legal error.
• Refiling, when the problem was insufficient evidence rather than ineligibility — often the right path in these cases, because the evidence can be strengthened.

The confidentiality protections in these cases survive a denial. That matters, and it is part of why the review before filing is worth doing carefully.

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