What is a U Visa?

When a person who is the victim of a crime but they are in the United States without documentation, many times, they are hesitant to report the crime. In order to encourage victims to report these crimes, the USCIS created the U-Visa. This visa is in place to protect the victims of serious crimes who are willing to assist law enforcement in investigating the crime. The types of crimes that would make a victim eligible for a U-visa include domestic violence, rape, kidnapping, manslaughter, human trafficking, and more. These visas are valid for four years and you are eligible to apply to become a permanent resident after three years of having a U-visa. You can extend your visa if it is requested that you do so by law enforcement, required due to exceptional circumstances, or if there are delays in consular processing. In addition, it may be automatically extended if

There are six requirements that must be met in order to apply for this type of visa. These include being the victim of the crime in question, the victim must have suffered serious physical or mental abuse, they must be able to provide valuable information and assist law enforcement in the investigation, the crime must have occurred in the United States or have violated U.S. laws.

If you have been the victim of a crime as an undocumented immigrant, it is important that you contact an experienced immigration law attorney who can assist you taking the steps to obtain a visa.

If you are in need of experienced legal counsel for matters regarding immigration, please contact the Law Offices of Salvatore A. Falletta, LLC and we would be happy to provide you with assistance.