HOW TO WIN YOUR VAWA CASE EVERY TIME

Today, we're talking about everything you need to win your VAWA case.

If you have been the victim of extreme cruelty or battery by a US citizen spouse, parent, or adult 21-year-old child, or a spouse who is a resident alien here in the US, you may be eligible to file your application for residency here in the US without their help, or without them knowing, and without them being involved, and without them having control over your green card application.

In order to successfully apply for VAWA, you need to submit everything that is inside the checklist on the USCIS website titled Checklist for VAWA Self-petitioners, which we are going to cover in this video.

And stay tuned until the end because I am going to share the number one most important piece of evidence that you must include in your VAWA application. And it isn't even listed on the USCIS website.

Evidence of Abusers US Citizenship or Permanent Resident Status

The first item on the checklist is evidence of abusers US citizenship or permanent resident status. If your abuser is a US citizen, then you can supply a copy of their US birth certificate, US passport, naturalization certificate, or a number if they were naturalized. If the abuser is a legal permanent resident, then you can provide a front or back copy of their green card. Also called the I-551 permanent resident card, a copy of their passport or I-94 record of entry, or their A number, which is also sometimes referred to as the USCIS number. In some states, you can contact the county recorder and request a copy of your spouse's birth certificate.

If they are a green card holder and have filed an I-130 on your behalf, you can also include a copy of that petition as evidence of their immigration status. If you cannot obtain any of these documents but have certain pieces of information such as a date of birth, a social security number, or a USCIS receipt number or an application that they may have filed, you can also request that USCIS verify their US citizenship status or their lawful permanent resident status. You can also file a Freedom of Information Act, also known as a FOIA, to request certain immigration records. But these requests can take 6 to 12 months for USCIS to fulfill and it may not yield you the information that you are looking for. However, it is always worth a try.

Lastly, don't forget to search online for certain records. Sometimes you may even be able to find voter registration records online depending on the state that you live in and this can also serve as proof of US citizenship. Don't forget to examine certain documentation closely such as your marriage certificate or even your marriage license. Sometimes these documents may contain information that your spouse was born in the US and you can subsequently also use this as evidence to request that USCIS verify your abuser's US citizenship status.

And as a last resort, if you can't even get any of this information, then you can try submitting affidavits from persons who personally know your spouse and have knowledge of their residency or citizenship status to accompany your application.

Evidence of Your Legal Relationship to the Abuser

Next on our checklist is marriage and divorce decrees, birth certificates, or other evidence of your legal relationship to the abuser. This means that USCIS wants to see evidence of your qualifying relationship with your abuser whether your abuser is your spouse or whether they are your parent or whether they are your adult US citizen child. If your abuser is your spouse, then the only record that you can use to prove your qualifying relationship is your marriage certificate.

In addition, if either you or your spouse has been married prior to your current marriage, you must also submit the divorce certificates to prove that both of you were free to legally enter into the current marriage. It's fine if your marriage occurred outside of the US as long as wherever the marriage occurred it was legally binding. Same-sex marriages are also recognized as valid marriages and qualifying relationships as long as they were also legally binding and legally recognized in the country or state in which they occurred.

If your abusive US relative is your parent, then you must show a birth certificate showing that they are indeed your parent. If they are your step-parent, then you should include a copy of the marriage certificate of your parent to the abusive US citizen step-parent to show that their marriage occurred before you turned 18 years old and also make sure to include a copy of your birth certificate to the parent that married this US citizen.

And lastly, if your abusive US relative is your child, then you must provide a copy of their birth certificate and make sure that it lists you as their biological parent. You can also qualify as a step-parent who is abused by a US citizen child as long as your marriage to their parent occurred before the child turned 18.

And remember, it is not required for you to be separated or divorced at the time that you file your VAWA application, but if you have gotten divorced from your US citizen spouse, then you must make sure that your VAWA application is filed within two years of your divorce date. Otherwise, it will not be considered timely.

Proof of Residency with Abuser

The third item on our checklist is one or more documents showing that you and the abuser have resided together, such as employment records, utility receipts, school records, hospital or medical records, birth certificates of children, mortgages, rental records, insurance policies, or affidavits. You need to prove that you and your abusive relative resided together at some point during time, but no specific amount of time is required.

The good news is that you can show residency with your spouse before marriage, after marriage, or during marriage, and you can also show residency with your child at any time. That means that even if you live together for only a day, this is technically enough underneath the VAWA regulations.

Proofs that you have lived together can typically include:

-A lease or rental agreements

-Utility or other bills

-Children's records

-School records

-Medical records

-Any other documentation that you can find that can show that you and your abusive relative have lived together at the same address. Note that it is not required that you be currently living with your spouse or your child in order to qualify for VAWA. And residency outside of the United States also counts for VAWA.

If you are having trouble obtaining any sort of this evidence, then you can then fall back to affidavits from witnesses who have personally seen you and your relative live together in the same location. These can be affidavits from landlords, friends, family members, and anyone else who might have personal knowledge that you and your abuser lived at the same location. If you do affidavits, it's always a good idea to include copies of the witness's ID.

In my opinion, USCIS will give more credibility and weight to these affidavits if it contains proof of their identity as well. And finally, you will need to explain how and when you lived together with your relative in your affidavit, which I'll go over in more detail later.

Evidence of Abuse

Next on our checklist is evidence of abuse, such as reports and affidavits from police, judges, court officials, medical personnel, school officials, clergy, social workers, and other social service agency personnel. If you have an order of protection or have taken other legal steps to end the abuse, you should submit copies of those court documents. While physical abuse is the most visible form of abuse, the vast majority of VAWA cases are filed by victims of extreme cruelty, also called emotional abuse.

The definition of extreme cruelty has been intentionally left vague so that anything can be reasonably interpreted as extreme cruelty. But the main idea of extreme cruelty is whether your abusive relative engaged in several behaviors that were designed to control your life or exert power and control over your actions.

In other words, as I like to explain to my team, did the abuser cause our client to do something or not do something? If the answer is yes, then it's a pretty good chance that the abuser engaged in coercive behavior.

If you are not sure whether what you are experiencing constitutes extreme cruelty, contact us with details of your situation so we can help determine whether you qualify for VAWA.

A few examples of extreme cruelty include but are not limited to:

-Isolation

-Intimidation

-Economic abuse

-Coercive control

-Threats of deportation

-Abandonment

-Stalking and monitoring your every action

-Threats to harm you

-Threats to harm your children or pets or anyone that you care about

-Threats to take away your children and any other similar behavior that is cruel and controlling

Proof of extreme cruelty can come in many different forms including your personal statement or affidavit, declarations from family, friends, neighbors and anyone else that had some knowledge of what you went through, domestic abuse service providers such as shelters or other counseling services, criminal court records, emails, text messages, letters, voicemails, medical records, counseling reports and other police reports.

Please note that you do not need everything that I have just listed to prove that you suffered emotional cruelty. When it comes to physical abuse or battery, a lot of these things can also be used to help prove what you went through. However, please note that physical battery and physical abuse also includes sexual abuse. So anytime that you have been forced to do something with your partner that you did not want to do, that also counts as physical abuse and battery.

Anything, any shred of evidence that you can find to help corroborate any part of your case can be used because the standard of evidence in this case is any credible evidence. This means that you do not have to prove your case beyond a reasonable doubt. It only means that you must show some evidence to show that it's more likely than not that you did suffer.

But where you can, your goal should be to include as much evidence as possible. However, there are certain ways to beef up your case without having a lot of evidence, which I will discuss shortly.

When working with our VAWA clients, if we believe that a psychological evaluation will help strengthen the case and is necessary for the case, then we do our best to provide the name and number of somebody that we trust who can help write a psychological evaluation. Otherwise, if you yourself are getting therapy or any other sort of counseling service on your own, then you can also use this to help support your case and to help show that you have suffered psychological abuse during your relationship. And please note that you do not need a police report to win your VAWA case.

The belief that a police report is required to prove your case is an old-fashioned and stereotypical belief and does not take into account that the majority of abuse is actually emotional abuse and that most immigrants fail to call the police for help because they themselves are afraid of getting reported on.

Affidavit of Good Moral Character

Next on our checklist is your affidavit of good moral character accompanied by a local police clearance, state-issued criminal background check, or similar report from each locality or state in the United States or abroad where you have resided for more than six months during the past three years.

When considering your good moral character, USCIS focuses on the past three years immediately prior to submitting your application, so you will want to contact each of the local police stations where you have lived for at least a minimum of six months during the prior three years. You can request something that is called a local police clearance.

In some states, it may be called a certificate of good conduct, but also another really good way to do this if you are unable to get those police clearances or unable to travel to those states to get them is to request an FBI fingerprint search. And if you do happen to have a criminal background, then it is always wise to work with an immigration attorney to make sure that none of these convictions or arrests will be a problem in your case.

Assuming that there is no problem, you can beef up your evidence of good moral character with affidavits from friends, family, co-workers, employers, clergymen, and anyone else in the community that you have worked with. And also, you can provide proof of having filed your taxes, participating in your children's schools, PTA, or having performed other services for the community.

You're welcome to contact my office with details of your case so we can help assess to see if VAWA is the right solution for you.

Spouses of Abusive U.S. Citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents

The last item on our list is for spouses of abusive U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

You must submit evidence showing that you entered your marriage in good faith, such as proof that one spouse has been listed as the other spouse on the insurance policies, property leases, properly filed tax forms, or bank statements. You may also submit your affidavit or affidavits of others who have knowledge of your courtship, wedding ceremony, shared residence, and other life experiences if available. The official standard of proof for a good faith marriage is whether or not you intended to establish a life together at the inception of your marriage.

Common evidence can include:

-Children

-Love letters

-Proof of residence with the abuser

-Proof of how you met

-Bank statements

-Lease or rental agreements

-Utility bills or records

-Anything else that shows both of your names together on that documentation

Unsurprisingly, one of the highest things that USCIS likes to see is children, but this is also usually followed by high-quality evidence, such as joint tax documentation, joint bank statements, and any other proof of assets and liabilities that are jointly held.

There is also typically a little bit of a higher standard of evidence for shorter marriages, so if you are able to, submit as much evidence as you can if your marriage was not for very long, but also remember that any credible evidence will do in a VAWA application as long as you are able to explain everything very clearly in your affidavit.

Your Personal Statement or Affidavit

And lastly, here is what is not included on the USCIS checklist, but is arguably and undoubtedly one of the most important factors in your VAWA application, and this is your personal statement or affidavit.

This affidavit is so important that no matter how much evidence that you supply to USCIS to prove that you are qualified for VAWA, if your personal affidavit is not clear and convincing, then you may get a request for evidence in your application or you may even receive a denial of your application. Your personal affidavit should provide clear details of the history of you and your spouse or child.

If your application is based upon your spouse, it must have a clear narrative of how you and your spouse met, what your courtship was like, how you entered into marriage, and how the relationship progressed.

And in this affidavit, you'll also want to clearly show what sort of steps you took to combine your lives together and why you may not have as much evidence as you would like.

This is also your opportunity to explain the details of your shared residency, and please be careful to make sure that the information you give in your affidavit of your shared residency matches exactly what you write on your application forms and what you give as evidence. Otherwise, this may also create an inconsistency that must be resolved through a request for evidence.

Your affidavit is also your best opportunity to explain how your spouse controlled your life, how they inflicted pain and suffering upon you, how they have hurt you, and the effects that it has left upon you.

You can include details such as:

-What you remember about the abuse first starting

-What sort of effect it had on you

-How you responded to the abuse

-The sorts of things that would make your spouse upset

-Who you may have confided to or who you may have sought help from

-Any other details that you believe are necessary to help paint a clear picture

Sometimes, this affidavit is literally the only documentation that a person may have to show how they suffered extreme cruelty or battery during their marriage. And that's okay because USCIS adjudicators have been trained to accept any form of credible evidence.

This means that as long as your affidavit itself does not contain any internal inconsistency or inconsistency with external information that is publicly available, then they will accept your affidavit as proof of every element that you are trying to prove in your case. That is why the affidavit is so important and it is your golden opportunity to show what has happened in your relationship.

If your case is based upon abuse that you have suffered at the hands of your adult US citizen child, then one of the most important factors to show in your affidavit is how the abuse happened after your son or daughter turned 21 years of age. You want to use your affidavit to show how your relative's individual actions had a negative impact or controlling impact upon your behavior. Certain actions by themselves may not look initially abusive or violent.

However, what USCIS is looking for is to see a pattern of behavior by your US relative that basically amounts to a life of abuse that you have suffered. A well-written affidavit can help you win your case without anything more.

I want to share a few common things that I see with VAWA applications. When preparing your VAWA case, be mindful of your security and your confidentiality.

If you suspect that your spouse might have control of your device or your email accounts or your phone records, be careful not to store information about your VAWA case on your phone or on any of those systems.

If you work with an immigration lawyer, then we strongly suggest that you utilize your immigration lawyer for the purposes of receiving and sending mail so that your case is kept confidential. It's also important that you avoid any inconsistencies with your application.

If you have previously submitted immigration filings to USCIS, make sure that all the information is the same and is consistent, and if there are any inconsistencies, use your affidavit to explain why. I recommend that wherever it's possible to do a FOIA filing to get copies of the records that you have filed in the past.

Also, make sure that you use the most current version of all of the forms. Go to the USCIS webpage to make sure that you are using the most up-to-date edition.

And lastly, please know that DHS cannot disclose any of your personal information or even the fact that you filed for VAWA because they are legally restricted from doing this by law. This means that you can safely and confidentially proceed in your VAWA application. You will be protected through this as soon as you file your VAWA case.

My name is Moumita Rahman and I have been practicing immigration law for the past 14 years. During this time, my office has helped thousands of immigrants all across the U.S. file for VAWA and get protection. Our goal is to help you take control over your life and your immigration journey.

If you would like my help on your VAWA case, call us at 212-248-7907 to schedule a case evaluation. Even though I am based in New York, I work with clients all over the U.S. If you want to find out how long it will take to get your case processed, watch my other video, "The Real Timeline for Your VAWA Case."

In it, I explain how long each step of your VAWA case will take from filing your initial application all the way to getting your green card and becoming a U.S. citizen. Click the link to watch and I'll see you there.