New York · est. 2013Saturday, September 5, 2026
Inside Immigration

Plain-language guides to US immigration, asylum and USCIS procedure.

Forms · Humanitarian

U nonimmigrant status for crime victims

The U visa is for victims of serious crime who suffered substantial harm and have been helpful to law enforcement. A signed law enforcement certification is mandatory. Congress caps U visas at 10,000 a year, so the practical route is a bona fide determination that gives deferred action and a work permit while the petition waits years for a visa number.

Typical time: 18.5 months to a bona fide determination in FY 2026, then several more years for a visa number, then three years in status before the green card.Fees: $0 in USCIS fees throughout, which is unusual. The real cost is legal representation and the time.

Who it is for. Victims of qualifying criminal activity in the United States who have been, are being, or are likely to be helpful in the investigation or prosecution, and their qualifying family members.

The forms, in order

7 forms
I-918BI-918I-192I-918AI-765I-485I-929
  1. 1

    Get a law enforcement certification signed

    I-918B

    Who
    A prosecutor, police agency, judge, or other certifying official, at the victim's request
    When
    The certification must be signed within six months of filing
    Fee
    $0

    Agencies are not obliged to sign. This is the hardest step in most U visa cases.

  2. 2

    File Form I-918 with the certification, a personal statement, and evidence of harm

    I-918I-918BI-192

    Who
    The victim
    When
    No statutory deadline, but sooner is better given the queue
    Fee
    $0; Form I-192 is also free for U petitioners

    Form I-192 waives inadmissibility and is decided with the petition.

  3. 3

    File derivative petitions for qualifying family

    I-918A

    Who
    The principal petitioner
    When
    With or after the principal petition
    Fee
    $0

    Petitioners under 21 can include parents and unmarried siblings under 18; those 21 and over are limited to a spouse and children.

  4. 4

    Receive a bona fide determination, deferred action, and a work permit

    I-765

    Who
    USCIS
    When
    18.5 months national median in FY 2026
    Fee
    $0 for the (c)(14) EAD in U cases

    This is what makes the wait survivable. It is not status.

  5. 5

    Wait for a U visa number and receive U-1 status

    Who
    USCIS
    When
    Years - the 10,000 annual cap and a backlog in the hundreds of thousands
    Fee
    $0

    Status runs four years from the grant.

  6. 6

    Apply for a green card after three years in U status

    I-485I-929

    Who
    The U-1 holder and family
    When
    After 3 years of continuous physical presence in U status
    Fee
    $0 for the U-based I-485

    Form I-929 covers a family member who never held derivative U status.

Where it goes wrong

  • Without a signed I-918B there is no petition, and no law compels an agency to sign one.
  • The six-month certification validity window means a certification obtained too early has to be redone.
  • Deferred action from a bona fide determination is discretionary and can be revoked.
  • Age-out rules for derivatives are complex; a sibling who turns 18 or a child who turns 21 can lose eligibility.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

  • Front-end processing has improved sharply, from a 57.5-month median in FY 2023 to 18.5 months in FY 2026, because of the bona fide determination process.
  • The 10,000 annual statutory cap is unchanged and the backlog continues to grow.
  • Increased ICE enforcement has made some victims reluctant to come forward at all, which is the point of the programme's confidentiality provisions.

Related processes

Sources: uscis.gov · uscis.gov · egov.uscis.gov · uscis.gov