T nonimmigrant status, commonly referred to as a T visa, is a nonimmigrant status allowing certain victims of human trafficking (which includes both labor trafficking and sex trafficking) and immediate family members to remain and work temporarily in the United States, typically if they report the crime to law enforcement, and agree to help them in the investigation and/or prosecution of the crime(s) committed against them. It also allows close family members of the victims to come to the United States legally. Despite being colloquially referred to as a visa, T status is not technically a visa, because it is issued to individuals who are already inside the United States. [1]
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: 2011 estimates are more like 17,500 but source needed..(May 2016) |
The United States government estimated in 2002 that each year up to 50,000 people are trafficked illegally into the United States, mostly women and children, and are trapped in slavery-like situations. [2] As a response, it enacted the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), which, among other things, allows such people to apply for three-year temporary visas that lead to permanent resident status. In 2006, Congress modified 8 CFR 214.11(p) to now have the T-visa to be for four years. Although 5,000 are available per year, only 2,000 had been issued as of January, 2009. [3] In 2017, there were 8524 cases of human trafficking being reported to National Human Trafficking Hotline. [4] And up to 2018, the allowed stay period for people who are granted a T visa is still four years. [5]
Related visas include:
The first T visas were issued in Fiscal Year 2003. In the table below, the years are Fiscal Years, so for instance the year 2009 refers to the period from October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009. [8] Note that this only counts T visas issued at embassies and consulates outside the United States, and does not include people who changed nonimmigrant status to T status within the United States. The T-1 status is the one most likely to be achieved through change of status within the United States, and therefore T-1 visas are not usually issued.
Fiscal Year | Number of T-1 visas issued | Number of T-2 visas issued | Number of T-3 visas issued | Number of T-4 visas issued | Number of T-5 visas issued | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2003 | 0 | 20 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 58 |
2004 | 0 | 74 | 145 | 0 | 0 | 219 |
2005 | 0 | 35 | 65 | 7 | 5 | 112 |
2006 | 0 | 11 | 43 | 5 | 1 | 60 |
2007 | 0 | 20 | 70 | 5 | 3 | 98 |
2008 | 0 | 34 | 132 | 5 | 8 | 179 |
2009 | 0 | 8 | 81 | 3 | 3 | 95 |
2010 | 0 | 64 | 167 | 7 | 8 | 246 |
2011 | 0 | 127 | 258 | 10 | 14 | 409 |
2012 | 0 | 151 | 342 | 7 | 17 | 517 |
2013 | 0 | 171 | 357 | 22 | 31 | 581 |
2014 | 0 | 115 | 370 | 18 | 13 | 516 |
2015 | 0 | 111 | 376 | 10 | 10 | 507 |
A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. Green card holders are formally known as lawful permanent residents (LPRs). As of 2023, there are an estimated 12.7 million green card holders, of whom 9 million are eligible to become United States citizens. Approximately 18,700 of them serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Sex traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion as they recruit, transport, and provide their victims as prostitutes. Sometimes victims are brought into a situation of dependency on their trafficker(s), financially or emotionally. Every aspect of sex trafficking is considered a crime, from acquisition to transportation and exploitation of victims. This includes any sexual exploitation of adults or minors, including child sex tourism (CST) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST).
An L-1 visa is a visa document used to enter the United States for the purpose of work in L-1 status. It is a non-immigrant visa, and is valid for a relatively short amount of time, from three months to five years, based on a reciprocity schedule. With extensions, the maximum stay is seven years.
A K-1 visa is a visa issued to the fiancé or fiancée of a United States citizen to enter the United States. A K-1 visa requires a foreigner to marry his or her U.S. citizen petitioner within 90 days of entry, or depart the United States. Once the couple marries, the foreign citizen can adjust status to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States. Although a K-1 visa is legally classified as a non-immigrant visa, it usually leads to important immigration benefits and is therefore often processed by the Immigrant Visa section of United States embassies and consulates worldwide.
TN status is a special non-immigrant classification of foreign nationals in the United States, which offers expedited work authorization to a citizen of Canada or a national of Mexico. It was created as a result of provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement that mandated simplified entry and employment permission for certain professionals from each of the three NAFTA member states in the other member states. The provisions of NAFTA relevant to TN status were then carried over almost verbatim to the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement that replaced NAFTA in 2020.
Visitors to the United States must obtain a visa from one of the U.S. diplomatic missions unless they are citizens of one of the visa-exempt or Visa Waiver Program countries.
A Form I-766 employment authorization document or EAD card, known popularly as a work permit, is a document issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that provides temporary employment authorization to noncitizens in the United States.
The E-2 Investor Visa allows an individual to enter and work in the United States based on an investment in a U.S. business. The E-2 visa is valid for three months to five years and can be extended indefinitely. The investment must be "substantial", although there is no legally defined minimum. The E-2 visa is available only to citizens of certain countries.
The Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007 or STRIVE Act of 2007 is proposed United States legislation designed to address the problem of illegal immigration, introduced into the United States House of Representatives. Its supporters claim it would toughen border security, increase enforcement of and criminal penalties for illegal immigration, and establish an employment verification system to identify illegal aliens working in the United States. It would also establish new programs for both illegal aliens and new immigrant workers to achieve legal citizenship. Critics allege that the bill would turn law enforcement agencies into social welfare agencies as it would not allow CBP to detain illegal immigrants that are eligible for Z-visas and would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens with very few restrictions.
An L-2 visa is a visa document used to enter the United States by the dependent spouse and unmarried children under 21 years of age of qualified L-1 visa holders. It is a non-immigrant visa, and is only valid for the duration of the spouse's L-1 visa.
The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) is a federal statute passed into law in 2000 by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Clinton. The law was later reauthorized by presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump. In addition to its applicability to US citizens, it has the ability to authorize protections for undocumented immigrants who are victims of severe forms of trafficking and violence.
In the United States, human trafficking tends to occur around international travel hubs with large immigrant populations, notably in California, Texas, and Georgia. Those trafficked include young children, teenagers, men, and women; victims can be domestic citizens or foreign nationals.
The U visa is a United States nonimmigrant visa which is set aside for victims of crimes who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse while in the U.S. and who are willing to assist law enforcement and government officials in the investigation or prosecution of the criminal activity. It permits such victims to enter or remain in the US when they might not otherwise be able to do so. An advantage that comes along with the acceptance of a U-visa is the individual will have deportation protection which is important when they are collaborating with law enforcement.
The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 is an Act of Congress introduced in the Senate on January 13, 2015, and signed into law by United States President Barack Obama on May 29, 2015. It is also known as the JVTA. Broadly speaking, it aimed to increase services for survivors of human trafficking as well as to strengthen and empower law enforcement and first responders.
Sex trafficking in the United States is a form of human trafficking which involves reproductive slavery or commercial sexual exploitation as it occurs in the United States. Sex trafficking includes the transportation of persons by means of coercion, deception and/or force into exploitative and slavery-like conditions. It is commonly associated with organized crime.
Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status is one of the forms issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. It is used by people currently in the United States in a non-immigrant status to change the classification for their status and/or extend their stay with their current status. Both the current status and the status to which the transition is being sought must be non-immigrant visa statuses.
The Legal Immigration Family Equity Act of 2000, also known as the LIFE Act and as the Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act, along with its Amendments, made some changes to laws surrounding immigration for family members of United States citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents, as well as people eligible for employment-based immigrant visas, in the direction of making it easier for family members and immigrant workers to move to and adjust status within the United States. It was passed on December 21, 2000, as title XI of Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law 106–553 (text)(PDF).
The R-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa which allows travel to the United States for service as a minister or other religious occupation. Between October 2019 and September 2020, there were 2,399 R visas issued.
Human trafficking in Utah is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor as it occurs in the state of Utah, and it is widely recognized as a modern-day form of slavery. It includes "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power, or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs." Human trafficking is a growing problem in Utah.
Trafficking of Korean women in the United States has been practiced for over a few decades and is known to be a transnational social problem. These women have either been kidnapped, groomed, recruited and usually transported to domestic and or foreign land by use of; threats, coercion, fraud or physical and verbal abuse. Korean women have been sexually exploited, forced to commit strenuous labor, and or transport illegal product, such as drugs, that are smuggled by use of their bodies in some cases. Trafficking of Korean women has been practiced since the late 1930s in Asia. Victims can range from pre-teen years of age to their thirties or later. Korean women are often stigmatized in the United States, as being women who are here in the states as sex workers. Over time, U.S. contributions toward combatting human trafficking amongst Korean women have been issued. Law enforcement agencies and several departments of U.S. government have provided these women a way out of the trafficking culture, whether they identify as voluntary or involuntary sex workers. As Korean women, their identity plays a unique role in how different forms of systematic oppression affects them.
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