U Visa: Qualification as a Direct or Indirect Victim

This article discusses the term direct and indirect victims for the purposes of qualifying for a U visa and gives information on what qualifies an individual to be classified as a direct or indirect victim.

As a result of the provision of the Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, the U visa for immigrant victims of serious crimes was authorized. As a requirement for one to be eligible for the U visa status the applicant must either be classified as defined by the Department of Homeland Security a victim for U visa purposes as either a “direct” or “indirect” victim. These two classifications will be discussed in this article.

Qualification as a direct victim for U visa purposes

In order to apply for a U visa as a direct victim, you need to have suffered direct or proximate harm as a result of the criminal activity. Proximate harm is not clearly defined within immigration laws but it is generally understood to mean that the actions of the person who carried out the criminal activity were a significant factor in causing harm to the victim. For example, if a victim was battered by their spouse and as a result suffered physical and emotional harm, the person would therefore be considered a direct victim of domestic violence. And the act of domestic violence qualifies as an act of criminal activity under the U visa purposes.

Under the definition of a direct victim, the person does not need to suffer physical harm to qualify, such harm can be emotional or mental harm. For example, a noncitizen woman could be considered a direct victim of an attempted kidnapping, in which a man tried to force her into the trunk of a car and the woman suffered serious emotional trauma but escaped without any physical harm to her.

Qualification as an indirect victim for U visa purposes

Certain family members can qualify for a U visa as indirect victims of criminal activity. This can occur when the primary victim died due to murder or manslaughter or was rendered incompetent or incapacitated and is therefore unable to help authorities with the criminal investigation in respect of the criminal activity that caused the death or condition of the victim. The indirect victim will still need to meet the eligibility criteria of:

Having been, being or will be helpful in the investigation of the crime
The victim suffered substantial harm due to the crime and
The victim is admissible to the U. S. or qualifies for a waiver of inadmissibility

An example of an indirect victim is that of a noncitizen woman’s eighteen year old son who is murdered, the mother is traumatized by the loss of her son and suffers substantial emotional harm. She also helps the police investigation by providing information about her son and the events that led up to the day of her son’s murder. In the above circumstances the mother qualifies as an indirect victim as she is the parent of the deceased who is younger than twenty one years, she rendered help in the investigation of the murder and she is admissible to the U. S.

For information on getting a green card in Detroit contact an immigration law office in Michigan.

For matter dealing with immigration in Cleveland Ohio , the author recommends the Herman Legal Group.