
- U visa processing time full#
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your Form I-918 or Form I-918 Supplement are not complete and properly filed. USCIS will not give you a bona fide determination and work permit if any of the following are true: If the pros outweigh the cons, USCIS will give you a work permit and deferred action for four years, which you can renew until your U visa is finally decided. Based on your criminal background check and any other information in your file about your criminal and immigration record, USCIS will weigh the pros and cons of giving you a work permit and deferred action. In addition, they will make sure that you provided a personal statement about the crime, and they will run a criminal background check on you. 3 It’s important to understand, however, that either process will take years from the day you submit your U visa application.įor the bona fide determination, USCIS does a basic review of your application to see if the Form I-918 (U visa application form) and Form I-918 Supplement B (law enforcement certification) were complete and properly filed. There are two ways to get a work permit and deferred action: (1) through a bona fide determination 2 or (2) through the waitlist. Having deferred action also means that the government thinks you are a low priority for deportation, so it is less likely that you will be deported while you wait for your U visa. Deferred action is not an immigration status, but it allows USCIS to give you a work permit so you can work legally while you wait for a decision on your U visa. One reason it takes so long is that Congress limited the number of U visas the government can give out to 10,000 per year, 1 but far more than 10,000 people apply for U visas each year, so the line of applications waiting to get reviewed gets longer and longer every year.īecause it is taking so long for the government to review U visa applications, USCIS may give you a work permit and deferred action while you wait for a final decision. However, any application filed now would likely take much longer than five years to be reviewed because thousands more applications have been filed since 2016 and are already ahead of you in line waiting to be reviewed. As of June 2021, the USCIS website reported that they were reviewing applications that were filed in 2016, five years before. Learn more about U nonimmigrant status (U visas).It will likely take years to get your U visa from the day that you apply for it. U visa processing time download#
(Note: The Domestic Violence Unit reviews certification requests for all qualifying crimes.)įor additional information on requesting certifications from the NYPD, download Rules of the City of New York for Requesting U certification. Send all requests to the NYPD's U visa Certification Office by mail to:ĭomestic Violence Unit / U visa Certification Office
One or more qualifying family members of the victim will become ineligible for derivative U nonimmigrant status within 3 months of the date of the letter. The victim is in removal or deportation proceedings. Include a mailing address where the NYPD may send written responses related to the request. Describe the victim's assistance to the NYPD’s investigation of the crime(s) (is the victim currently assisting the NYPD? Was the victim helpful in the past? Is the victim likely to be helpful in the future?). Describe the qualifying crime(s) (when and where did the crime(s) happen?). U visa processing time full#
Identify the victim (include full name, with middle names and other names, such as maiden names or nick-names date of birth gender phone number and address).Requests can be in the preferred language. All requests must be in a typed or clearly printed letter.Preparing a U visa certification request: A completed certification also does not guarantee that USCIS will provide immigration status. A certification does not give immigration status or provide immigration protection. That the victim assisted law enforcement.Ī completed certification is not a sponsorship or endorsement of a victim.The victim has information about the criminal activity.
A person was a victim of a qualifying criminal activity.The form is one way of demonstrating to USCIS that: Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Under federal law, victims applying for U nonimmigrant status are required to submit a completed and signed U visa certification as part of their application to U.S.