U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Today announced which for the fifth consecutive year has approved 10,000 petitions for the U visa. This means that they have reached the maximum number they can issue for fiscal year 2014 (October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014). Due to the high demand for the U visa, the available visas for fiscal year 2014 sold out in 71 days.
The program was created by Congress to help law enforcement agencies investigate and prosecute cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and other crimes, and to protect the victims of these crimes.
According to USCIS statistics, more than 89,600 victims and their immediate family members have received U visas since the program was implemented in 2008.
USCIS will continue to accept new U visa petitions and will reissue U visas beginning October 1, 2014, the first day of fiscal year 2015. U visa applicants will be able to remain in the country while their applications are processed and will not accrue undocumented time while awaiting a decision from USCIS.
