


Legal Information: Federal


View all
January 30, 2018

Am I eligible for U visa status? What crimes could qualify me?

Victims of certain crimes may qualify for U visa status. These are the basic eligibility requirements - you must meet all of them:

  • You have information about the criminal activity (or if you are under 16 years old, that your parent, guardian, or “next friend” has information about the criminal activity);
  • You can provide a certification from a law enforcement authority that states that you have been helpful, are being helpful, or are likely to be helpful to the authorities investigating or prosecuting the criminal activity (or if you are under 16 years old, that your parent, guardian, or “next friend” has been helpful, is being helpful, or is likely to be helpful);
  • The criminal activity:
    • violated U.S. law; or
    • occurred in the U.S. (including Indian country and military installations) or the territories and possessions of the U.S.;1 or
    • violated a U.S. federal law outside of the U.S. but the law allows for the criminal to be prosecuted in U.S. federal court;2 and
  • You are not in violation of the immigration law’s inadmissibility grounds or, if you are, that a waiver can be (and is) filed to ask that those violations be excused.3


Note: On our Videos page, you can see our series of vlogs (videos) in Spanish, with English subtitles, where we discuss what is a U visa, what are the requirements to get a U visa, what crimes qualify someone to get a U visa, among other related topics.

2 8 CFR § 214.14(b)(4)
3 INA § 212(d)(14)