IMMIGRANT CRIME VICTIMS & U-VISA CERTIFICATION: What it is and Why Should Judges Care? Ten facts that every judge (and attorney/officer) should know (15-13)

U-VISA CERTIFICATION: In every judge’s career there will likely come a time when they are asked to sign a U-visa certificate on behalf of a noncitizen crime victim. The decision whether or not to sign the U-visa certificate is completely subject to the judge’s discretion. However, in order to intelligently exercise that discretion the reviewing judge, at a minimum, should be familiar with 10 basic facts regarding this Federal program. In addition to judges, Congress also included law enforcement officers and prosecutors on the list of persons authorized to sign U-visa certificates.

Both of the enclosed training updates (a Minnesota version and a National version) have been fully vetted by the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) and the National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (NIWAP). The National version will be posted and stored on the NIWAP’s online U-visa resource library.

TO READ THE FULL TRAINING UPDATE CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK(S):

PendletonUpdate15-13 MINNESOTA

PendletonUpdate15-13 NATIONAL