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U Nonimmigrant Status: Obtaining Lawful Immigration Status for Crime Victims

Topics:
  • Immigration

This training is open to attorneys from large law firms and in-house counsel at corporations who team up with law firm attorneys to represent Her Justice clients. In-house counsel should contact us in advance of registering for a training so that we can discuss your participation in our program.

Attorneys will be trained to represent Her Justice-referred clients in obtaining U Nonimmigrant ("U visa") status in the United States.

U Nonimmigrant status is offered to a victim of certain crimes, like domestic violence and rape, who cooperates in the investigation or prosecution of her attacker. A grant of U Nonimmigrant status allows an immigrant and her derivative family members to work and live lawfully in the United States, and creates a pathway to their being able to obtain lawful permanent resident status. It also allows a derivative family member residing abroad to enter the United States lawfully to be reunited with the crime victim.

Procedural and substantive aspects of filing a request for U Nonimmigrant status with immigration authorities will be discussed in detail. Training manuals and sample documents will be provided at the training.

Attorneys attending the training will be assigned a case, which may involve representing a crime victim and multiple derivatives, normally her children, for pro bono representation. Attorneys are expected to commit to taking a case pro bono either individually or as part of a team. Experienced Her Justice staff attorneys mentor and consult with pro bono teams throughout the course of representation.

The U Nonimmigrant Status application process is transactional and does not require that the attorney attend an interview with immigration authorities.

Please note that clients' children often reside abroad. In those cases, attorneys are expected to handle the derivative cases until the children successfully enter the United States. Her Justice will provide video CLE training and materials for Consular Processing for U Nonimmigrant Visas. Please contact us for more information.

  • CLE Credit Comments: 2.5 CLE credits upon course completion 1.0 skills / 1.0 professional practice / 0.5 ethics Up to 10 CLE pro bono credits for providing a Her Justice client with direct legal representation (1 skills credit for every 120 minutes, up to a maximum of 10 credits per attorney registration period).
  • Contact:
    Maura Heron
    Her Justice
    (646) 442-1195
  • Website: www.herjustice.org