Options for Battered or Abused Immigrants
Are you an immigrant who is experiencing domestic violence or abuse by your U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse, parent, or adult U.S. citizen son or daughter? There may be several options available that would allow you to remain in the United States.
At the Law Offices of Gita B. Kapur and Associates, we help people in Los Angeles and Orange county in California, and around the world in immigration matters. To learn more about options for battered or abused immigrants, please contact our law office online.
Some of these options may include:
- Self-petitioning for lawful permanent residency through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) for certain abused spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents
- Applying for special rule cancellation of removal before the immigration court
- Other immigration options, including U visas for victims of qualifying crimes and, in some cases, asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT)
Self-Petitioning for Lawful Permanent Residency
One of the most common ways of seeking permanent residency in the United States is through family immigration options such as fiancé/fiancée visas, spousal visas, and child visas. However, when the individual seeking the visa is being abused by the family member who would normally file the petition, there may be options available to seek immigration status independently.
Under VAWA, certain spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents who experience battery or extreme cruelty may self-petition for lawful permanent residency. This allows an abused spouse, child, or qualifying parent to file on their own, without the abuser’s help and without the abuser even knowing about the filing.
- Abused spouses may file for themselves and may also include their unmarried children under 21 on the same petition, if they qualify.
- Abused children may file based on abuse by a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident parent, if other eligibility requirements are met.
- Certain abused parents of adult (21 or older) U.S. citizen sons or daughters may also qualify to self‑petition.
Even if you are not married to a lawful permanent resident or a United States citizen, but have been the victim of certain crimes involving domestic violence or abuse by your spouse or another person, you may be able to apply for a U visa. If the abuse occurred in your native country but is connected to persecution on account of a protected ground, you may also be eligible to apply for asylum, withholding of removal, or relief under CAT, depending on the facts of your case.
Contact a Lawyer for Information on Physical Abuse and Immigration Law
To learn more about these and other potential options, please call us at 213-784-6598 or send us an email.
Our legal services are competitively priced, and we offer payment plans to clients in Los Angeles, Fullerton, and surrounding areas in California, including Long Beach, Pasadena, the San Fernando Valley, Santa Monica, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Ana, and Palmdale who qualify.
We speak a variety of languages to ease the process for our immigrant clients, including Spanish, Zapotec, Korean, Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, and Urdu.