Talk about U.S. Immigration

U Visa Certification

March 30, 2010 on 6:31 pm | In Policy, visa, worksite investigation | No Comments

In a welcome development for U Visa, the Department of Labor announced that it would start certifying the U visa applications. The Secretary of Labor issued a statement on March 16, 2010 that if a workplace investigation reveals foreign nationals as victims of crime or abuse, investigators would be able to identify them as potential U visa applicants. Such identification of foreign national would be based upon their willingness to assist in the investigation or prosecution of crime.

The U non immigrant visa is available to victims of qualified criminal activities, who have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse and who assist or agree to assist law enforcement or other designated officials in investigation or prosecution of those crimes.

Qualifying criminal activities involve violations of certain federal, state or local criminal laws, including: abduction, abusive sexual contact, blackmail, domestic violence, extortion, false imprisonment, female genital mutilation, felonious assault, hostage-taking, incest, involuntary servitude, kidnapping, manslaughter, murder, obstruction of justice, peonage, perjury, prostitution, rape, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, slave trade, torture, trafficking, witness tampering, unlawful criminal restraint and other related crimes.

Eligibility for U Visa is based upon certification by designated authorities of the assistance provided by the foreign national in the investigation or prosecution. Applicants can obtain lawful temporary resident status and employment authorization while their application is pending adjudication.

The DOL statement is an effort in the right direction. Hopefully it would act as a deterrant against those perpetuatinf abuse. It surely would help crime detection and enforcement of penalties where the foreign nationals possess the necessary evidence but would not disclose the evidence or silently endure the abuse for fear of deportation.