T
visa- Special Visa Protection for Victims of Human
Trafficking
How Does an Alien
Qualify for T Visa Status Under The Victims of Trafficking
and Violence Protection Act (TVPA)?
This specific
type of visa is granted to protect individuals who
have been the victims of severe human trafficking.
The legal definition of “severe human trafficking”
as indicated on the Immigration and Nationality Act
section 101(a)(15)(T) is as follows:
- (1) sex trafficking in which
a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud
or coercion or in which the person induced to
perform such act has not attained 18 years of
age, or,
- (2) the recruitment, harboring,
transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person
for labor or services, through the use of force,
fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection
to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage,
or slavery
What are the
Specific Requirements to be eligible for a T visa?
To be eligible
for this specific type of visa category, the person
must:
- (1) Be physically present
in the United States, American Samoa, the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands, or a U.S. port
of entry because of such trafficking;
- (2) Have complied with any
reasonable request for assistance to law enforcement
in the investigation or prosecution of acts of
trafficking, or be under the age of 15; and
- (3) Be likely to suffer extreme
hardship involving unusual and severe harm upon
removal.
NOTE:
The Attorney General may, in order to avoid extreme
hardship, permit the spouse, children and parents
of an alien under age 21 and the spouse and children
of an alien over age 21 to accompany or follow to
join the principal alien.
In what year
was this type of visa protection created?
Since the
year 2000.
What law created
this visa category?
This visa was created
by The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection
Act of 2000 (VTVPA). The VTVPA is actually two separate
laws, the ``Trafficking Victims Protection Act of
2000'' (TVPA) and the ``Violence Against Women Act
of 2000'' (VAWA2). |
