ASISTA Practice Pointer: Correctly Identifying the Expiration Date of U Nonimmigrant Status (Updated February 8, 2024)

Many practitioners report uncertainty about the date their client’s U status expires because the client has multiple documents defining the validity of their status. For instance, a U derivative may have: (1) the I-797 approval notice for the principal’s I-918, (2) the I-797 approval notice for their own I-918A, (3) a U-3 (or other derivative…

Read More

ASISTA Practice Pointer: Hot Tips for Using Service Center Hotlines and Supplementing Pending Petitions (Updated Jan. 22, 2024)

This practice pointer synthesizes the current recommendations for using USCIS “hotline emails” for customer service inquiries on cases protected by 8 USC § 1367 privacy requirements, i.e., survivor-based relief applications. This project was supported by Grant No. 15JOVW-23-GK-05161-MUMU awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and…

Read More

ASISTA I-485 Comment (11/7/2023)

On September 8, 2023, USCIS published a revision of Form I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status greatly expanding the number and type of questions for applicants to complete. On November 7, 2023, ASISTA submitted a comment emphasizing the impact of these form changes on beneficiaries of survivor-based relief.

Read More

ASISTA New Resource: Top Ten Things Criminal Defense Attorneys Should Know About Criminalized Survivors (Oct. 9, 2023)

When a noncitizen survivor faces criminal charges, their immigration prospects will be best preserved if their criminal defense attorney is well-informed about immigration fundamentals. This resource is designed to inform criminal defense attorneys and advocates of key immigration concepts and equip them with useful tips and resources to put them into action.

Read More

Immigrant Visa Flowcharts for Derivatives of VAWA and U Principals

These four flowcharts were created by Esther Limb, Supervising Attorney at Her Justice, in connection with ASISTA’s March 2023 Virtual CLE Conference, “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Derivatives.” They are current as of March 2023. The flowcharts depict the processes to follow for derivative beneficiaries and other relatives of VAWA and U petitioners,…

Read More

ASISTA and collaborators AILA, ICWC, CAST, and ILRC delivered a letter to USCIS Re: Biometrics for U and T Visa Applicants Abroad (Feb. 2023)

On February 14, 2023 ASISTA and collaborators AILA, ICWC, CAST, and ILRC delivered a letter to USCIS raising concerns about the unavailability of biometrics appointments for U and T visa petitioners and their derivatives abroad, and the negative consequences resulting from their inability to complete application requirements, including prolonged family separation and even unfair denials…

Read More

Brand-New: ASISTA & Ujima Release Practice Advisory on Anti-Blackness & Immigrant GBV Survivors (Feb. 2023)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 9, 2023 Contacts:  Kirsten Rambo, kirsten@asistahelp.org  Cristina Velez, cristina@asistahelp.org  ASISTA Releases Practice Advisory on  Anti-Blackness and Immigrant Survivors of Gender-Based Violence  in Collaboration with Ujima, Inc.  The racism that pervades the US immigration system creates particular hardships for Black survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). ASISTA and Ujima, Inc. (the National Center…

Read More

ASISTA Releases Practice Advisory on Representing Criminalized Immigrant Survivors (Jan. 2023) 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 18, 2023 Contacts:  Kirsten Rambo, kirsten@asistahelp.org  Cristina Velez, cristina@asistahelp.org  ASISTA Releases Practice Advisory on Representing Criminalized Immigrant Survivors ASISTA has released a practice advisory for immigration practitioners that provides an introduction to the impacts of criminal-legal system contacts on eligibility for survivor-based immigration relief. Immigrant survivors may be criminalized for many reasons,…

Read More

Recommendations to the EOIR and BIA practice manuals (June 2022)

Recommendations for Updates to the EOIR Immigration Court Practice Manual and Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual, were submitted on June 7, 2022, by the following organizations: ASISTA Immigration Assistance, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, Freedom Network USA, National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (NIWAP), Ujima Inc., The National Center on Violence Against Women in…

Read More

VAWA Practice Advisory: VAWA Self-Petition Policy Updates (June 2022)

ASISTA, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (“ILRC”), and Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (“CLINIC”) co-authored the VAWA Practice Advisory: VAWA Self-Petition Policy Updates. Click here to access the Executive Summary: VAWA Self-Petition Policy Updates (June 2022), and here to download the practice advisory in Word version. This project was supported by Grant No. 15JOVW-21-GK-02240-MUMU awarded…

Read More

BIA Amicus Brief of Motions to Reopen Based on Criminal Vacatur (April 27, 2022)

Brief of Amici Curiae ASISTA Immigration Assistance, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, Esperanza United, and Tahirih Justice Center in support of the BIA’s consideration of the impacts of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, or other forms of gender-based violence when determining whether to grant and untimely motion to reopen premised on a vacatur…

Read More

Advisory on new T Visa sections of the USCIS Policy Manual (November 2021)

ASISTA and CAST developed this advisory to highlight significant changes to the T visa section of the USCIS Policy Manual that went into effect on October 20, 2021. Changes include: Additional guidance on the intersections between trafficking/domestic violence and trafficking/smuggling; Physical presence on account of trafficking; Extended work authorization when filing a timely I-485 under…

Read More

ASISTA Weighs in on Barriers to Benefits for Immigrant Survivors (Oct. 18, 2021)

On October 18, 2021, ASISTA submitted a comment to DOS in response to a Request for Public Input identifying barriers that impede access to immigration benefits, fair and efficient adjudications of these benefits, and recommendations on how to remove these barriers. We focused our comment on the challenges immigrant survivors and their derivatives face when consular processing. Thank you to our…

Read More

New ASISTA Policy Alert, Q&A on ICE Directive: Using a Victim-Centered Approach with Noncitizen Crime Victims (Current as of August 23, 2021)

On August 10, 2021, ICE issued a new agency directive superseding guidance from 2019 regarding stay of removal requests and removal proceedings involving U visa petitioners (hereinafter “Directive”). The Directive outlines new policies and procedures regarding exercising prosecutorial discretion for victims of crime, including those eligible for victim-based immigration relief (including VAWA self-petitions, U and…

Read More