Congress created the U visa as a nonimmigrant status that allows non-citizen victims of crime to remain in the United States and obtain work authorization. It was created by the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act in October 2000 and amended by the Violence Against Women Act in 2005. The purpose of this visa is to encourage non-citizens to assist police, law enforcement officials in solving and prosecuting crimes. In October 2007, seven years after the U visa was created, U.S. CIS finally issued regulations regarding how U visa applicants can adjust status to lawful permanent residence ("green card"). During that seven year period, U.S. CIS did not grant any U visas, but instead allowed applicants to stay in the United States. with what is known as deferred action.
In 2008, U.S. CIS finalized the regulations and created a path to permanent residence for U visa interim relief status-holders. However, attorneys recently met with the Vermont Service Center to inquire about the processing times for U visa applications and permanent residence applications based on U visa interim relief. There are 13,454 U visa applications pending and only 86 have been adjudicated. At this pace, it will take approximately 168 years to complete processing on the backlog of applications.
To learn more about U visas, please call our offices or visit ILRC to find out more.
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