Immigration

In general, one of the main issues with whether or not a person can get a U visa is whether or not the person would be able to get the certification that is needed from law enforcement. The certification is explained here on our website. Often times, when a crime took place a while back, but the victim reported it to the police or to the court as part of a protection order proceeding and cooperated with the investigation or prosecution, law enforcement or the judge will have records documenting this and the victim may still be able to get the certification needed In general, the lapse of time between the crime and the filing for the U visa is not necessarily a disqualifying factor under the law. However, some officials who are authorized to provide certifications may have an internal policy against signing the required U visa certification for crimes that occurred beyond a certain time-period.

However, if the crime was never reported to the police at the time it happened, and the victim wants to report the crime now, I cannot tell you whether or not the police will still investigate a crime from many years ago. Perhaps it may depend on many factors such as if the statute of limitations has passed (that is the timeframe permitted by law to prosecute a crime after it happens) and what type of evidence there may be at this point, if there are/were any witnesses, etc. Again, I can only raise possible issues that may be considered but I cannot tell you one way or another what specifically would happen in your situation - however, hopefully an immigration lawyer can advise you. I will include a link for lawyers at the end of this email.

Also, one important point that you may want to consider is that it is generally safer that a lawyer try to reach out to the police or to the judge to see if they will give a certification in a particular case or if they will investigate a crime that happened many years before as opposed to the crime victim themselves doing it. [IF SHE SAYS SHE IS GETTING A U VISA BASED ON A CIVIL RO, DELETE THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH: There could be a concern is that if an undocumented person goes to the police station to try to get a certification, the police might contact Immigration about the undocumented person and there may be a risk of deportation - not all police will do this but it may help to first find out from a professional in the field how the police in your town would react (whether they would contact Immigration or not). Therefore, this is why it is generally better that the person contacting the police would be an immigration lawyer, not the victim herself/himself.

As you can see, I cannot give you a definitive answer either way as to whether you may qualify for a U visa because I cannot provide legal advice. I strongly suggest talking to a lawyer who specializes in immigration law - here are links to lawyers in your state: LINK and some that are national organizations that you may want to contact to find one that specializes in U Visas.

Also, here is a link to our website with lots of information about U visas that I hope will be helpful.