Immigration

The first step before filing any documents is to get a lawyer, if possible, with experience doing battered spouse or child waivers. Next, with the attorney’s help, you will fill out Form I-751.

You may wish to write a personal statement, which can be very helpful in winning your case, especially if you don’t have a lot of other documents to show good faith marriage or battery or extreme cruelty. The personal statement is the first opportunity that you have to tell your story in your own words and for USCIS to hear your “voice.” An attorney or advocate can help you organize your story but your personal statement should be in your own words.

You may also need to work with others, such as a domestic violence advocate, a mental health counselor, and other professionals who can write “corroborating” statements, which back up your claims of abuse. Corroborating statements can describe the facts of the abuse, as you told them to the advocate or counselor, and explain how those facts are domestic violence in your case. The advocate can explain, for instance, the details of any economic control, humiliation, and isolation you experienced and how those are forms of power and control commonly used by abusers. Corroborating statements can be very helpful, especially for when the abuse was not physical or there are no police reports, protection orders, or medical reports. An advocate who works with you can also help you find and collect other evidence that supports your case.

There may be things that the abuser did that are just too hard for you or your children to write down in your personal statement. If you told those things to your advocate or counselor, s/he can discuss those facts in his/her corroborating statement and explain what kind of domestic abuse it was, such as marital rape, for instance. It is OK for you to say it’s too hard for you to describe certain incidents of abuse as long as someone else, like your counselor, can describe it in detail for you, based on what you told him/her. The goal of this law is to help crime victims, not re-traumatize them.

The law says that you can provide “any credible evidence” for your case, but USCIS may think some kinds of evidence are more believable (“credible”) than others. Evidence besides your own statement that may support your case (“corroboration”) includes anything from medical, legal, or social service systems that supports your own story and shows you meet the requirements. USCIS likes evidence from other “systems” because those systems are seen as having “experts.” USCIS will, however, look at evidence from other sources too, especially if you and your lawyer explain why you couldn’t get “systems” evidence and why this source is believable, trustworthy, and knowledgeable. For some practice pointers on how your lawyer can help you send the best evidence you can to USCIS, go to ASISTA’s website.

After your attorney files your battered spouse or child waiver, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) sends a receipt to the address you provide on your application. That receipt will tell you what date USCIS received your application. The receipt notice will also extend your conditional permanent residence for four years.¹ The extension will allow you to continue working and maintaining your immigration status while USCIS reviews your application. You should consult with your immigration attorney before traveling outside the United States while your battered spouse or child waiver application is pending.

Be sure to use a safe address where the abuser will not get the mail and where you can be sure that you will receive it. USCIS may later request additional evidence from you so it’s very important to use an address where you will be sure to receive mail. Many people use their lawyer’s office address.

If the battered spouse or child waiver is approved, the “condition” in your conditional permanent residence will be removed.¹ That means you will have legal permanent residence and you will continue to be able to live and work legally in the US. Your “green card” will be valid for ten years.

If you included any of your children as derivatives, their conditions will also be removed, and they will receive a new “green card” that will be valid for ten years.

¹ See INA § 216(c)(4)(C), (c)(4)(D)