LibGuides: U Nonimmigrant Visa Application by Alexa Rodriguez: Law Review(s), Journals, Articles and ALR's

Purpose of U Visas

For the dual purposes of protecting those who are not in lawful immigration status and encouraging noncitizen crime victims to aid in law enforcement efforts, Congress created a new classification of nonimmigrant visa, the "U" visa, when it enacted the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (Pub. L. No. 106-386, 114 Stat. 1464 (2000)).
An alien is eligible to petition for U status under 8 U.S.C.A. § 1101(a)(15)(U)(i) if the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "determines that the alien has suffered substantial physical or mental abuse" resulting from certain enumerated criminal activity.
The petitioning victim must show that he or she is currently "being helpful" in prosecutorial and investigative efforts, or has been so in the past, or is likely to be so in the future. U visa application procedures set forth in 8 U.S.C.A. § 1184(p) and 8 C.F.R. § 214.14 also dictate that the alien submit a certification form signed by a qualified certifying official, which attests to the petitioner's compliance with the U visa requirements. The decision whether to issue the certification is within the certifying official's discretion and will not be disturbed by a court as held inOrdonez Orosco v. Napolitano, 598 F.3d 222, 78 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 711 (5th Cir. 2010). This annotation will present and discuss all cases in which applications for U visa status have been adjudicated pursuant to the applicable federal regulations.

78 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 515 (Originally published in 2013)

Article(s) Relating to I-918 Supplement B Certification

Winning U Visa: Getting the Law Enforcement Certification
Mandatory U Visa Certification Unnecessarily Undermines The Purpose Of The Violence Against Women Act Immigration Protections and its "Any Credible Evidence" Rule - A Call for Consistency
This article illustrates the potential problems with the need for a U Visa Certification.
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Can be found through googlescholar.com as well.

Articles Related to Indirect Victim Eligibility

RETHINKING INDIRECT VICTIM ELIGIBILITY FOR U NON-IMMIGRANT VISAS TO BETTER PROTECT IMMIGRANT FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES Stanford Law and Policy Review 2011 22 Stan. L. & Pol'y Rev. 587

Maria and Claudia are first cousins, and their mothers are sisters. Claudia was born in Mexico. She entered the United States illegally with her mother and Maria's mother when she was only a few months old. Maria was born two years later in the United States. The girls have grown up together. Maria was nine years old and Claudia was twelve when...
...[FN192] The quid pro quo built into the U visa requirements makes clear that the U visa petitioner has something of value--information and cooperation--that she can exchange for U visa protection....
.... See Visa Rules Loose for Immigrant Victims, Ariz. Republic, Aug. 19, 2010, at A1 (reporting suspicions of Arizona law enforcement agencies and elected officials that immigrants looking for a way to stay in the country legally are misusing the U visa); James Pinkerton, Immigrant Crime Victims Await Relief Under New Visa, Hous. Chron., Aug. 5, 2002, at A1 (reporting statement by Dan Stein, Executive Director, Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), that the U visa has great “potential for fraud and manipulation” and that it represents another avenue for the legislative activists to use the immigration system for another political agenda”); Chris Casey, Shut Out:U...

American Law Reports (ALR)

1. Research References

West's ALR Digest March 2014 West's ALR Digest Aliens, Immigration, and Citizenship Key Symbol

190

2. Adjudication of Application for "U Visa," by Alien Eligible Under 8 U.S.C.A. § 1101(a)(15)(U), Pursuant to 8 U.S.C.A. § 1184(p)

American Law Reports ALR Federal 2d The ALR databases are made current by the weekly addition of relevant new cases. 78 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 515 (Originally published in 2013)
The U visa is a nonimmigrant classification of visa available to alien victims of certain criminal activity who aid in the investigation and prosecution of such criminality. This annotation collects and discusses the court cases, as well as administrative decisions, that bear on a petitioner's eligibility for U visa status. For purposes of this...
...With regard to the issuance of U visas, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) possesses sole jurisdiction over all U visa petitions (8 C.F.R. § 214.14(c)(1)) and also to determine the evidentiary value of application materials submitted with the U visapetition (8 C.F.R. § 214.14(c)(4))....
...Application of U Visa regulations to potential U Visa candidates under particular facts § 7 to 10...

Law Reviews and Journals

INTERSECTIONAL DISCRIMINATION IN U VISA CERTIFICATION DENIALS: AN IRREMEDIABLE VIOLATION OF EQUAL PROTECTION?
Through the U visa, the Immigration and Nationality Act offers a means to obtain legal immigration status for undocumented victims of domestic violence and other specified crimes who cooperate with law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of those crimes. In order to apply for such a visa, a crime victim must obtain law enforcement...

1. U VISAS FOR IMMIGRANT VICTIMS OF CRIME CBA Record October, 2008 22-OCT CBA Rec. 42

Undocumented immigrants are fearful of contacting the police to report crimes committed against them. Now more than ever, many undocumented immigrants fear that local police will turn them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the branch of the Department of Homeland Security charged with enforcement of the immigration laws. Many local..
....Those granted U Visa Interim Relief would ultimately have to re-apply for the U visa after the regulations took effect, but were able to obtain a work authorization card and temporary protection against deportation.......In three years, the U visa holder can apply for permanent residency....22-OCT CBA Rec. 42

2.U VISA “CERTIFICATION”: OVERCOMING THE LOCAL HURDLE IN RESPONSE TO A FEDERAL STATUTE

Idaho Law Review 2009 45 Idaho L. Rev. 691

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” C1-2TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION. 691 II. HISTORY AND PURPOSE OF THE U VISA. 693 A. Evolution of the Regulation. 694 III. LANGUAGE OF THE U VISA. 696 A. How the U Visa Is Applied. 696 B. Statutory Requirements. 697 C. U Nonimmigrant Status Certification: Form B. 698 IV. U VISA AND..
....Understanding the Idaho connection with the U visa requires a broad understanding of the U visa statute and regulation.......Under this analysis, the U visa is sound in assuring that USCIS is the only body reviewing and accepting U visa petitions..

3.THE DUAL PURPOSES OF THE U VISA THWARTED IN A LEGISLATIVE DUEL Saint Louis University Public Law Review 2010 29 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 373

I. Introduction. 374 II. The U Visa Framework. 377 A. Legislating Dual Purposes. 378 B. The Regulatory Evolution of the Law Enforcement Certification. 383 1. LEC “Interim Relief” Protocols. 384 2. U Visa Regulations. 389 3. The LEC Resurfaces in the U Adjustment Regulations. 391 III. Dual Purposes Thwarted. 392 A. Elevating Certification Power to......
The U visa framework also reveals the staggering need for legal representation in U visa petitions........ See, e.g., Catholic Charities CYO, v. Chertoff, No. C 07-1307 PJH, 2007 WL 2344995, at *2, *5 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 16, 2007) (arguing that despite an unambiguous legal duty to promulgate regulations implementing the U visa program as commanded in the VAWA Reauthorization Act, where Congress directed defendants to “promulgate regulations to implement” the U visa program no later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act (which was on January 5, 2006), defendants have nevertheless persisted in their failure to afford crime victims a means to apply for and obtain U visas)....

4. THE U VISA: PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS TO AID UNDOCUMENTED ALIEN VICTIMS Wayne Law Review Summer, 2011 57 Wayne L. Rev. 535

Undocumented aliens have long been victims of heinous crimes. For decades an undocumented alien victim faced the choice of reporting a crime committed against him coupled with the possibility of deportation, or suffering in silence in order to remain in the United States. Hope against this double-edged sword was thought to be found for undocumented...
...Specifically, Part II outlines the purpose of the U visa, as well as the qualifications for, and the effects of, U visa status and U visaapplication requirements, and focuses on the third “helpfulness” requirement that involves a certification from a certifying law enforcement agency....
...The complications of the U visa likely stem back to the problematic U visa framework....

Legal Newspapers and Newsletters

1. USCIS Reaches U Visas Cap for Fiscal Year 2014 Interpreter Releases Report and analysis of immigration and nationality law December 16, 2013 90 NO. 47 Interpreter Releases 2393

On September 9, 2013, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had reached the 10,000 cap on approved petitions for U nonimmigrant status (also referred to as the “U visa”) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013, which ended on September 30, 2013. USCIS has now announced that it has reached the cap for FY 2014. This marks the fifth...
...This marks the fifth straight year that USCIS has reached the statutory maximum of 10,000 U visas per fiscal year since it began issuingU visas in 2008, the first time being FY 2010....
...[FN47] A U-visa petition requires certification of assistance from law enforcement..

2. USCIS Issues Questions & Answers on U Nonimmigrant Status for Victims of Criminal Activity Interpreter Releases Report and analysis of immigration and nationality law November 11, 2013 90 NO. 43 Interpreter Releases 2170

The U visa classification, INA § 101(a)(15)(U) [8 USCA § 1101(a)(15)(U)], created by the Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act of 2000, part of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, offers protection to victims of crimes who step forward to assist law enforcement in investigating and prosecuting cases of domestic...
...The U visa classification, INA § 101(a)(15)(U) [8 USCA § 1101(a)(15)(U)], created by the Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act of 2000, part of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, [FN50] offers protection to victims of crimes who step forward to assist law enforcement in investigating and prosecuting cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and other crimes....
.... See Minwalla, “Protecting Noncitizen Crime Victims Under the New U Visa Interim Regulations,” 08-01 Immigration Briefings 1 (Jan. 2008)...

3. DOS Issues Cable on T and U Visa Changes Interpreter Releases Report and analysis of immigration and nationality law July 8, 2013 90 NO. 25 Interpreter Releases 1438

The following is the text of a June 2013 Department of State (DOS) cable (No. 00090518) sent to all diplomatic and consular posts containing guidance on issuing T and U visa changes. 1. (U) Summary: In March 2013 Congress enacted several changes to the William Wilberforce Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) & Trafficking Victims Protection...
...Other changes allowed age-out protections for U visa derivatives and eliminated the public charge ineligibility for U visa applicants among other things....
...To qualify for the U visa, the victim of a qualifying crime generally must provide assistance to law enforcement....