VAWA Visa Requirements: How to Qualify for VAWA

VAWA is a special law which allows the spouse and/or child of an abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident to apply for a green card through self-petition.  Through VAWA, someone can apply for a green card themselves, without the help of their abusive spouse.

VAWA is a very powerful immigration option for both men and women.

In this guide, I’m going to explain the VAWA requirements, so that you know what is needed to qualify. If you have any questions, please feel free to message me!

As a general overview, there are 5 main VAWA requirements:

• You must be in a qualifying relationship with an abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident

• You must reside in the U.S. at the time the VAWA petition is filed and you must have resided with the abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident at some point.

• The abusive person must be either a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident

• You must have suffered abuse at the hands of the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident

• You must be a person of good moral character

In the guide below, we will explain each of these 5 requirements in more detail.

1. Qualifying Relationship with U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident

The first requirement to qualify for VAWA is that you must be in a qualifying relationship with a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. There are 3 qualifying relationships:

Marriage to a U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident

One of the ways to qualify for VAWA immigration is to be the abused spouse of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. To qualify under this relationship, you must show that you entered into a bona-fide marriage with the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. To prove a bona-fide marriage, you must show that at the time of the marriage, you intended to establish a life together. If the marriage was entered into solely for immigration benefits, this will not qualify as a good-faith marriage.

An important point that I’d like to mention is that you may still qualify for VAWA even if you are not currently married to the abusive spouse. To qualify, you must show that the marriage ended within the last 2 years prior to applying for VAWA. Also, you must show that the termination of the marriage was related to the abuse of the spouse.

Abused child of U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident

You may also qualify for VAWA if you are the abused child of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. To qualify, you must show that you have a parent/child relationship with the abusive parent.

Parent of abusive U.S. citizen

You may also qualify for VAWA as the abused parent of a U.S. citizen. To qualify under this category, you must show that the abusive U.S. citizen is your child and that they are at least 21 years old.

2. Residence Requirement

There are 2 prongs to the residence requirement:

• To qualify for VAWA, you must reside in the U.S. at the time the VAWA petition is filed. If you do not reside in the U.S. at the time the VAWA petition is filed, you must show that the U.S. citizen or permanent resident subjected you or your child to extreme cruelty or battery in the U.S. or that the abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident is an employee of the U.S. government or a member of the uniformed services.

• You must have resided with the abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident at some point.

3. Citizenship Status of Abuser

To qualify for VAWA, the abusive person must either be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.

Exception

If the abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident is no longer a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, you may potentially still qualify for VAWA if you file the VAWA petition within 2 years of the abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident’s loss of status if the loss of status was related to domestic violence.

4. You Must have Suffered Abuse

To qualify for VAWA, you must show that you suffered abuse at the hands of the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or parent. Or if you are the parent of an abusive U.S. citizen child, you must show abuse at the hands of the U.S. citizen child.

To demonstrate abuse, you must show that you have either been battered or that you were subjected to extreme cruelty.

Abuse is defined by the regulations to be any act or threatened act of violence (this also includes psychological abuse, rape, incest, and forced prostitution).

5. Good Moral Character

To qualify for VAWA, you must show that you were a person of good moral character for the 3-year period prior to filing your VAWA petition. To demonstrate good moral character, we typically include police clearances from every city where the abused person lived for at least 6 months. Additionally, we also include tax returns and declarations from friends and family of the abused person which attest to the fact that the abused person is a person of good moral character.

6. Conclusion

As you can see, there are 5 main VAWA requirements:

• There must be a qualifying relationship with a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident

• Residence requirement

• Abuser must be either a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident

• You must have suffered abuse

• You must be a person of good moral character

You should now have a much better understanding of these requirements. If you have any questions or if you need help with your VAWA application, you may consider consulting an experienced immigration law firm for guidance. We would be happy to help you.