U Non-Immigrant Status Requirements

Warning: Some of this information may be outdated due to the 2025 executive orders. Please consider consulting an immigration lawyer if you have questions about your situation. You can also read the President’s executive orders.

U nonimmigrant status allows victims of certain crimes to stay in the United States if they cooperate with the police in any criminal investigation and prosecution. Fortunately, when you apply for U nonimmigrant status you can ask Immigration to waive problems that prevent most people from getting lawful status. You can also include certain family members in your U nonimmigrant status application. However, once you have U nonimmigrant status, you must wait an additional three years before applying for lawful permanent residency, or a green card.

Basic Requirements

To qualify for U nonimmigrant status, you must fulfill the following requirements:

• You must be a victim of a crime that falls within Immigration’s list of qualifying crimes;  
• You must have information about the crime;
• You must have suffered substantial harm as the result of being the victim of the crime. The harm can be emotional or physical;
• You must cooperate with law enforcement and cannot deny any reasonable request to help them in a criminal investigation or prosecution; and
• Someone from law enforcement must sign a certificate that says you have been, will be, or are currently helping in the criminal investigation and/or prosecution.

Even if you meet the requirements listed above, you do not have an automatic right to U nonimmigrant status. It is discretionary. This means that Immigration does not have to give you U nonimmigrant status if they don’t want to. You must convince them that you deserve it.

Qualifying Crimes

In the following list, we try to use the labels for crimes that could be committed anywhere in the United States. This is challenging because the names and qualifications of certain crimes vary depending on who defines them. For example, our list includes “felonious assault”, but Wisconsin law does not use those exact terms. Instead, Wisconsin criminal law uses the word “battery” to describe “assault”, which are both basically the same crime. In fact, some Wisconsin crimes do not appear in this list while some crimes in the list do not appear in Wisconsin criminal law. Therefore, when you review this list, think about what kinds of crime may qualify as “similar activity”. A well-trained lawyer can help you understand the legal terms in your case.

*Includes any similar activity where the elements of the crime are substantially similar. Also includes attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit any of the above and other related crimes.

Victim Definitions

Immigration Terms for U Nonimmigrant Status

Direct Victims: The direct victim is the person who is harmed by the crime.

Indirect Victims: There are two types of indirect victims. First we must consider certain types of crimes that do not directly target an individual. For example, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and perjury are crimes that do not intend harm against a specific person. These crimes target larger systems, but that does not mean that it won’t harm other people. In these cases, people who are affected by the crime are called indirect victims and they may qualify for U nonimmigrant status.

Another type of indirect victim is someone affected by a crime, but who cannot be expected to help the investigation. For example, a child who is a sexual assault victim may too young or traumatized to assist law enforcement. A victim who is incapacitated or has significant cognitive problems may also be unable to help in a criminal investigation. Also, victims of manslaughter or homicide cannot help, but their family members may be important to an investigation. As a result, sometimes spouses, legal guardians, parents, children, siblings, or other family members may qualify for U nonimmigrant status as an indirect victim.

Do not try to figure out on your own if you are an indirect victim. You will need the help of a trained immigration attorney to determine whether or not you qualify.

Bystander: Bystanders are the least common types of victim, and Immigration considers them on a case by case basis. Immigration’s example of a bystander victim is a pregnant woman who witnessed a horrific homicide and consequently suffers a miscarriage.

Again, defining who is, and who is not, a victim is very complicated. Please rely on a good immigration attorney to help you with your case.

Substantial Harm: To qualify for U nonimmigrant status, you must have suffered “substantial harm” as a victim of a crime. Immigration considers substantial harm on a case by case basis. Meaning, there is no straightforward list of rules that characterize it. However, the aspects of the crime that Immigration may consider include:

• The severity of the perpetrator’s conduct. This looks at how outrageous the criminal’s behavior is. The criminal may or may not have harmed you as much as they intended to harm you, but if their behavior is shocking, the harm could be considered substantial;
• The severity of the harm suffered;
• How long the harm affects the victim; and
• The extent to which there is permanent or serious harm to the appearance, health, or physical or mental soundness of the victim.

Again, there is no one characteristic that categorizes harm as substantial. For example, some people might have a pre-existing physical or mental condition which would make them more vulnerable. Therefore, this would make the harm more substantial. In this case, Immigration will think about whether or not these pre-existing conditions were made worse by the crime.

Helping an Investigation

What kind of information must I have?

The purpose of U nonimmigrant status is to help law enforcement investigate crime. That means Immigration wants to make sure you have useful information. They want concrete facts, but that does not mean that you have to know everything about a crime. For example, several of Catholic Charities’ clients are parents of children who were murdered. The parents may not know anything about the person who committed the crime. But they could tell law enforcement about who their child’s friends were and if they thought their children were involved in any gang activity.

What does it mean to be helpful?

Ultimately, you may not refuse any reasonable requests made by law enforcement while they detect, investigate, or prosecute a crime. They may ask you to:

• give a statement;
• identify the person who committed the crime; and/or
• testify at a criminal prosecution.

The definition of a reasonable request can be complicated to describe. Once again, Immigration considers this on a case by case basis. An example of an unreasonable request may be that you have moved far away and law enforcement now wants you to travel back to testify, which would force you to miss work and pay for significant travel expenses. Or, perhaps the person who committed the crime threatened to harm you if you testify. Work with an experienced immigration attorney who can help you with these issues before they become a problem.

EXCEPTIONS:
If the victim is under the age of 16 or unable to provide information due to a disability, a parent, guardian, or friend may assist law enforcement on behalf of the individual.

What does it mean to cooperate?

Cooperating simply means that you do what law enforcement asks you to do. Many different people may be involved, including police officers, district attorneys, and social workers. Your involvement can seem overwhelming. Ask if you can work with a victim advocate who can help you through the process.

Frequently Asked Questions