S Witness or Informant, S-5, S-6 and S-7
The S classification is for people who supply critical, reliable information about a criminal organisation or a terrorist plot and who are needed in the United States for the investigation or prosecution. It is not something an individual can apply for: a federal or state law enforcement agency requests it, and the Department of Justice signs off. It is the rarest of the categories in this range, with a few hundred slots a year that are almost never used in full.
- Duration
- Up to three years. By statute the Attorney General may not extend the period of admission.
- Extensions
- None. INA 214(k)(2) says the period may not be extended. An S nonimmigrant is also barred by regulation from changing to any other nonimmigrant classification, so there is no sideways move either. The only exit is adjustment of status under INA 245(j), requested by the law enforcement agency on Form I-854B.
- Work
- Yes. S nonimmigrants are eligible for employment authorisation, obtained on Form I-765. Employment is expected to be incidental to the cooperation, which is the reason for the admission.
- Dual intent
- limited - S is a nonimmigrant classification with a statutory adjustment route built into it, so the intent question is handled by the sponsoring agency rather than by the individual demonstrating ties abroad.
- Dependents
- S-7 covers the spouse, married or unmarried children, and parents of an S-5 or S-6 principal, where the requesting agency includes them. This is broader than most derivative categories, which stop at spouse and unmarried children under 21, because the family is often at risk.
- Path to a green card
- Adjustment of status under INA 245(j), which exists specifically for this classification. The same law enforcement agency that requested S status files Form I-854B, then the individual files Form I-485. There is no standalone annual cap on these adjustments, but each one is charged against the employment-based fourth preference allocation, so the application may be filed regardless of visa availability and simply cannot be approved until a number is available. The priority date is the date the adjustment application is properly filed. Unlike T and U, Form I-485 is not fee-exempt here. There is no appeal from a denial, and it cannot be renewed in removal proceedings.
- Processing time
- Not published, and not comparable to other categories. Everything runs on the sponsoring agency's timetable and on Department of Justice review. Numbers are tiny, so there is no meaningful queue, but there is also no service-level commitment and no premium processing.
- Annual cap and waiting lines
- 200 principals a year for S-5, and 50 a year for S-6, under INA 214(k). S-7 family members are counted against the principal's allocation in practice, and the caps are rarely reached
Who qualifies
- S-5: a person with critical reliable information about a criminal organisation or enterprise, willing to supply it or who has supplied it to federal or state law enforcement, and whose presence is essential to a successful investigation or prosecution
- S-6: a person with critical reliable information about a terrorist organisation, enterprise or operation, who will supply or has supplied it to a federal law enforcement or foreign policy agency, who is placed in danger as a result, and who is eligible for a State Department reward
- S-7: the spouse, married or unmarried children, and parents of an S-5 or S-6 principal, where the requesting agency asks that they be included
Requirements
- A federal or state law enforcement agency, or a federal court, must file Form I-854A on the person's behalf. There is no self-application
- Form I-854A goes to the Department of Justice Criminal Division, Office of Enforcement Operations, Special Operations Unit, not to a USCIS lockbox
- The information must be critical and reliable, and the person's presence must be essential to the investigation or prosecution
- For S-6, the person must have been placed in danger and be eligible for a State Department reward
- The requesting agency assumes responsibility for supervising the person and reporting on their conduct
- Since March 30, 2026, S applicants are subject to expanded online presence review and must set social media profiles to public
How to apply
- 1
A federal or state law enforcement agency identifies the witness or informant and decides to sponsor them
- 2
The agency completes Form I-854A, the interagency alien witness and informant record, with the certifications the form requires
- 3
The agency files it with the Department of Justice Criminal Division, Office of Enforcement Operations, Special Operations Unit
- 4
The Department of Justice and DHS decide the request; the individual has no independent filing route
- 5
If approved and the person is abroad, they complete Form DS-160 and apply for the S visa at a consular post
- 6
After admission, file Form I-765 for employment authorisation
- 7
Before the three years run out, the agency files Form I-854B so the person can apply to adjust under INA 245(j)
Fees and forms
| Form I-854A and Form I-854B | Filed by the law enforcement agency; no fee is charged to the beneficiary |
| MRV nonimmigrant visa application fee | $185; S is charged at the non-petition-based tier even though it is petition-based |
| Form I-765 for employment authorisation | $520 paper, $470 online |
| Form I-485 adjustment of status under INA 245(j) | $1,440 paper, $1,390 online |
What changed in 2025 and 2026
- March 30, 2026: State expanded online presence review, announced March 25, 2026, to A-3, C-3 domestic workers, G-5, H-3, H-4 dependants of H-3, K-1, K-2, K-3, Q, R-1, R-2, S, T and U applicants. This sits on top of the June 18, 2025 requirement for F, M and J applicants and the Dec. 15, 2025 extension to H-1B and H-4. Everyone in scope is told to set all social media profiles to public or open. S is expressly named in the March 2026 expansion, which is unusual for a law-enforcement-sponsored category.
- Oct. 1, 2025: the interview waiver rollback announced Sept. 18, 2025 took effect and superseded the July 25, 2025 guidance. Almost every nonimmigrant applicant now needs an in-person interview. The standing carve-outs are A-1, A-2, C-3 other than personal staff, G-1 through G-4, NATO-1 through NATO-6, TECRO E-1, diplomatic and official visas, and 12-month renewals of B-1/B-2, Mexican border crossing cards and H-2A. Waiver-eligible applicants must also apply in their country of nationality or residence, must never have been refused a visa unless overcome or waived, and must have no apparent ineligibility. The old under-14 and over-79 age exemptions were abolished. No further update has issued as of September 2026.
- July 15, 2026: State told nonimmigrant applicants to interview in their country of nationality or residence, or at the designated processing post if their country has no routine operations. Applying elsewhere is allowed but harder to qualify, the MRV fee is non-refundable and non-transferable, and waits are much longer. A, G, C-2, C-3, NATO and diplomatic applicants are exempt.
- Jan. 1, 2026: Presidential Proclamation 10998, signed Dec. 16, 2025, took effect at 12:01 a.m. EST and replaced Proclamation 10949 (signed June 4, 2025, effective June 9, 2025). It fully suspends visa issuance to nationals of 19 countries - Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - plus holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents, across every nonimmigrant and immigrant category. It only reaches people who were outside the United States and held no valid visa at 12:01 a.m. EST on Jan. 1, 2026; no earlier-issued visa was revoked under it. The full suspension reaches all nonimmigrant categories, so an S applicant from one of the 19 fully suspended countries would need a case-by-case national interest exception from the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney General, and the Attorney General's national interest authority is expressly provided for matters involving the Department of Justice.
- July 4, 2025: Public Law 119-21 added non-waivable immigration surcharges on top of normal filing fees. The ones that touch nonimmigrants are the Form I-94 fee, held at $24 for FY 2026, the parole fee, adjusted to $1,020 for FY 2026, parolee EAD surcharges of $560 initial and $280 renewal, and a statutory visa integrity fee of at least $250 on nonimmigrant visa issuance. The $250 visa integrity fee is enacted but unverified as collected: it appears nowhere on the State Department fee schedule as of September 2026 and no implementing rule has published.
- Form I-854 edition date 01/20/25 remains current as of September 2026, and the filing address remains the Department of Justice Criminal Division in Washington DC.
Where it goes wrong
- Believing you can apply. Only a law enforcement agency or a federal court can initiate an S request.
- The three-year period genuinely cannot be extended, so an adjustment request left too late leaves the person with no status.
- Filing Form I-854 with USCIS instead of the Department of Justice address on the form instructions.
- Assuming cooperation guarantees classification. The agency's request is discretionary at every level.
- S-7 family members being left out of the original request, which is difficult to fix later.
- Working before the Form I-765 employment authorisation document is issued.
- Confusing S with U or T nonimmigrant status. Those are victim-based, can be self-initiated and are fee-exempt through adjustment; S is agency-initiated, cooperation-based and carries the full $1,440 Form I-485 fee.
- Assuming a denial can be appealed or revisited. The regulations say neither the individual nor the requesting agency has a right of appeal, and a denial cannot be renewed in later removal proceedings.
- Forgetting that an S nonimmigrant remains removable for a crime involving moral turpitude committed within ten years of the grant of permanent residence under this section.
Not sure this is the one? Describe your situation and the finder will name the options worth exploring. None of this is legal advice; eligibility turns on facts a page cannot see.