Relief for Victims of Certain Crimes Who Assist Law Enforcement: The U Visa

• Author: Elizabeth Anne Campbell; Rachel DeLia Settlage; Veronica Thronson
• Pages: 33-44

I. Introduction

The U Nonimmigrant Visa is designed specically to provide relief to for-

eign national victims of crime. When Congress reauthorized the Violence

Against Women Act (VAWA) in 2000, a new VAWA provision, the Battered

Immigrant Women Protection Act, created the U nonimmigrant status.

1

One of the primary purposes of VAWA when it was rst authorized in

1994 was to protect victims of domestic violence and sexual assault; how-

ever, the original version of VAWA created immigration relief for foreign

national victims of domestic violence only when the abuser was a U.S. citi-

zen (USC) or lawful permanent resident (LPR) spouse or parent.2 In 2000

when VAWA was reauthorized, Congress noted that immigrant women and

children were frequently victims of domestic violence and sexual assault

1. Violence Against Women Act 2000 (VAWA 2000), Pub. L. No. 106-386, 114

Stat. 1464 (2000); USCIS Interim Final Rule: New Classication for Victims of

Criminal Activity; Eligibility for ‘U’ Nonimmigrant Status, 72 Fed. Reg. 53,014

(Sept. 17, 2007).

2. Signed into law as part of Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of

1994, Pub. L. No. 103-322, 108 Stat. 1902–55 (1994).

33

Chapter 3

Relief for Victims of Certain

Crimes Who Assist Law

Enforcement: The U Visa

Settlage_ImmRelief_20140717_09-11_Final.indd 337/17/14 9:12 AM