How to Apply for a T Visa as a Trafficking Survivor

T nonimmigrant status, usually called the T visa, protects people who were brought into or kept in the United States through sex trafficking or labor trafficking and who are still here because of it. It is often confused with the U visa, and the two overlap, but the T visa has its own definition of the crime, no requirement of a law enforcement certification, and an exception for survivors who cannot cooperate because of trauma. This post explains what the T visa application requires, how Form I-914 is prepared, and what happens after approval.

What counts as a severe form of trafficking in persons

The definition comes from the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Sex trafficking means recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, obtaining, patronizing or soliciting a person for a commercial sex act induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person is under 18. Labor trafficking means recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing or obtaining a person for labor or services through force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery.

Two misunderstandings cause people to rule themselves out. Movement across a border is not required; a person recruited and exploited entirely within one city is a trafficking victim. And smuggling is not trafficking. Paying someone to help you cross the border is smuggling, but if the smuggler then held you to work off a debt that kept growing, took your documents and threatened your family, the smuggling became trafficking. Coercion includes threats of serious harm to you or others, abuse of the legal process, and any scheme intended to make you believe that failing to work would bring serious harm.

The four T visa application requirements

The applicant must show four things. First, that the applicant is or was a victim of a severe form of trafficking. Second, that the applicant is physically present in the United States on account of the trafficking, which includes a person who escaped years ago and stayed, as long as the presence is still connected to the trafficking rather than to a later, separate reason for being here. Third, that the applicant has complied with any reasonable request from a law enforcement agency for assistance in investigating or prosecuting the trafficking, or qualifies for an exception. Fourth, that the applicant would suffer extreme hardship involving unusual and severe harm if removed from the United States. Admissibility, or a waiver on Form I-192, sits alongside these. Our T visa and humanitarian protection practice builds the declaration around these four elements in order.

Cooperation, the trauma exception and the age exemption

The cooperation requirement is narrower than the U visa’s. The applicant must comply with reasonable requests; no agency has to open a case, and no certification is required. Form I-914, Supplement B, is a law enforcement declaration that supports the application if an agency is willing to sign it, and a grant of Continued Presence from federal authorities is also strong evidence, but neither is a condition of approval. Applicants under 18 at the time of the trafficking are exempt from the cooperation requirement entirely. Applicants of any age who are unable to cooperate because of physical or psychological trauma qualify for the trauma exception, which must be documented, usually by a treating clinician who explains how the trauma prevents cooperation.

Preparing Form I-914 and the evidence

The application is filed on Form I-914 with USCIS. There is no filing fee for the T visa application itself. The evidence typically includes:

• A detailed personal declaration describing the recruitment, the work or sex acts, the force, fraud or coercion used, how and when the trafficking ended, and why you remain in the United States.
• Form I-914, Supplement B, if a law enforcement agency agreed to sign it, or evidence of attempts to cooperate, or evidence supporting the trauma exception or age exemption.
• Records that corroborate the trafficking: contracts, pay stubs or their absence, debt records, messages, travel documents, photographs, shelter or hotline records, and statements from witnesses.
• Medical, psychological and counseling records documenting the harm and supporting the extreme hardship claim.
• Evidence of hardship if removed: country conditions, the trafficker’s reach in the home country, lack of protection or treatment there, and family circumstances.
• Form I-192 for any inadmissibility ground, with an explanation of how the ground is connected to the trafficking where it is.

Family members and the annual cap

Family members apply on Form I-914, Supplement A. An applicant under 21 may include a spouse, children, parents and unmarried siblings under 18. An applicant 21 or older may include a spouse and children. Certain family members who face a present danger of retaliation because of the applicant’s escape or cooperation may also be included regardless of the applicant’s age. Congress capped principal T visas at 5,000 per fiscal year, a limit that has not been reached, so there is no waiting list comparable to the U visa’s. Processing time is driven by USCIS workload rather than a cap; check the posted USCIS processing times for Form I-914 rather than relying on a general estimate.

After approval: work authorization and the green card

T status is granted for up to four years and carries work authorization. The holder may apply for a green card after three years in T status, or earlier if the investigation or prosecution of the trafficking is complete, by showing continuous physical presence, good moral character, and either continued compliance with reasonable law enforcement requests or extreme hardship. A survivor who also fears persecution at home may have a parallel asylum claim, and the two can be pursued together; our post on affirmative asylum describes how that process works. Where the facts fit a listed crime and an agency is willing to certify, the U visa may also be an option, as explained in our post on U visa qualifying crimes. The firm’s asylum and humanitarian protection overview compares these routes side by side.

If you were forced, deceived or coerced into work or commercial sex in the United States, the T visa may protect you and your family. Schedule a consultation.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by this communication.

Attorney Sena Sahin. Clear advice for individuals, families, and business owners.

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