T nonimmigrant status · Form I-914
Trafficking is about force, fraud, or coercion. Many survivors never use the word.
We represent survivors of labor and sex trafficking in T visa applications, from the first confidential conversation through the personal statement, family members, and the green card.
Trafficking does not require crossing a border, being locked up, or being moved. A job that you could not leave because of threats, a debt that kept growing, or papers that were taken from you may qualify.
Definition · Protection · Green card
The T visa protects people who were made to work or sell sex against their will.
Congress created T status for survivors of severe forms of trafficking. It lasts up to four years, allows work, can include close family, and can lead to permanent residence.
Work obtained by force, fraud, or coercion
The law covers recruiting, harboring, transporting, or obtaining a person for labor or services through force, fraud, or coercion, to subject them to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
What can countA commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion
If the person induced to perform the act was under 18, the law does not require force, fraud, or coercion at all.
The four requirementsStatus, work, family, and a path forward
T status can be granted for up to four years. After three years in T status, or sooner if the investigation or prosecution is complete, the survivor can apply for a green card.
How a case movesEligibility
Four things must all be true.
These come from the statute. The evidence for each is mostly your own account, supported by whatever records exist.
You are or were a victim of a severe form of trafficking
It can have ended years ago. What matters is what was done to obtain your work or the sex act, and by what means.
You are in the United States on account of the trafficking
The statute requires physical presence here, or at a port of entry, on account of the trafficking. That includes people allowed in to take part in an investigation or court case about it.
You complied with reasonable requests from law enforcement
This means reasonable requests for help in investigating or prosecuting the trafficking. It does not apply to someone under 18, or to someone unable to cooperate because of physical or psychological trauma.
Removal would cause extreme hardship
The standard is extreme hardship involving unusual and severe harm if you were removed. Danger from the traffickers, medical needs, and what awaits you at home all go to this.
A person who has committed an act of severe trafficking is not eligible. Many other grounds of inadmissibility can be waived when they were caused by or incident to the trafficking.
Force, fraud, coercion
The question is why you could not leave.
These lists follow the legal definition. They are a starting point for a conversation, not a test.
Ways people are held in work or commercial sex
- Violence, or threats against you or your family
- A debt for travel, housing, or fees that you were made to work off and could never pay down
- Lies about the job, the pay, or the conditions that brought you into it
- Threats to call immigration or the police if you quit or complained
- Your passport or papers kept from you
Situations that need a closer look
- Paying a smuggler to cross the border, with nothing owed in forced work afterward
- A job with low pay or long hours that you were free to leave
- Unpaid wages without threats or deception
- Being the victim of a different crime, which may point to a U visa instead
Smuggling can turn into trafficking when the debt or the smugglers are then used to force work. If you were the victim of another crime, see U visas.
Protection while you wait
A complete application is reviewed early, and that review can bring protection.
For applications filed on or after August 28, 2024, USCIS conducts an initial review to decide whether the application is bona fide. That requires a complete application, a signed personal statement, and background checks that raise no national security concern.
If you have a final removal order, say so at the first call. A bona fide determination automatically stays the execution of a final order, but an immigration judge cannot grant a stay based on a T visa filing.
- Deferred action and a work permit. After a bona fide determination, USCIS may consider you for deferred action and then decide a work permit application. This is discretionary.
- Confidentiality. Federal law bars the government from sharing information about a T visa applicant outside the agencies handling the case, with some exceptions.
- Law enforcement evidence helps, in several forms. You may submit a declaration from a law enforcement agency, and USCIS also weighs other credible evidence of what you reported and how you helped.
- If you are in immigration court. Tell DHS that you intend to apply. ICE may use its discretion while USCIS decides, and only USCIS can grant T status.
- Fee waivers. By statute, T visa applicants may ask for a waiver of fees through the green card stage.
How a T visa case moves
Your statement is the center of the case.
Decision times change, so we do not quote them. These are the stages.
- 01
Confidential review
We listen to what happened, check it against the legal definition, and look at any immigration or criminal history that needs a waiver.
- 02
Reporting and cooperation
We plan how and where to report the trafficking, or document why an exception applies because of age or trauma.
- 03
The application
Form I-914 is filed with your signed personal statement, supporting evidence, any waiver request, and applications for eligible family members.
- 04
Bona fide review, then a decision
USCIS reviews the application at the start and later decides it in full. No more than 5,000 principal applicants can be granted T status in a fiscal year; family members do not count toward that limit.
- 05
Green card
After three years of continuous presence in T status, or earlier if the investigation or prosecution is complete, you can apply to adjust. Long trips abroad can break continuous presence.
Private two-minute guide
Where should a T visa review start?
Answer three general questions. The guide suggests where a first review should start; it does not decide eligibility or send your answers to the firm.
Sources
Official information and help lines.
Official pages first, then our deeper guides.
T visa questions
Short answers for survivors
Your own history may change these answers.
What is a T visa?
It is a status for survivors of severe forms of trafficking in persons, meaning labor or commercial sex obtained through force, fraud, or coercion. It can be granted for up to four years, allows you to work, can cover certain family members, and can lead to a green card.
Do I have to go to the police?
The statute asks whether you complied with reasonable requests for assistance in investigating or prosecuting the trafficking. People under 18, and people who cannot cooperate because of physical or psychological trauma, are excepted. We plan how to report before you do it.
The trafficking ended years ago. Can I still apply?
Possibly. The statute covers a person who is or has been a victim. The harder question in older cases is showing that you are in the United States on account of the trafficking, which depends on what has happened since. That needs an individual review.
Can my family be included?
Yes. An adult applicant can include a spouse and children. An applicant under 21 can also include parents and unmarried siblings under 18. Other relatives may qualify if they face a present danger of retaliation. Family members do not count toward the annual limit.
Will my trafficker find out that I applied?
Federal law bars the government from sharing information about a T visa applicant outside the agencies handling the case, with some exceptions. One exception matters if your trafficker is prosecuted in federal court: prosecutors may have to give the defense statements from witnesses. If you report to law enforcement, the investigation is separate, and we talk through what that involves first.
I was arrested for things I was forced to do. Does that end my case?
Not necessarily. The law allows a waiver of most grounds of inadmissibility when the conduct was caused by or incident to the trafficking. Bring every court record so we can see exactly what is there.
When can a T visa holder get a green card?
After three years of continuous physical presence in T status, or earlier if the investigation or prosecution is complete. You must also show good moral character and either continued cooperation, extreme hardship, or that you were under 18 when the trafficking happened. A single trip abroad of more than 90 days, or trips totaling more than 180 days, breaks continuous presence.
What does it cost?
By statute, T visa applicants may ask USCIS to waive its fees through the green card stage; see our fee guide for current rules. Our own fee is flat, quoted in writing after a confidential review, and payment plans are available.
T visa representation at a glance
- Who we represent
- Survivors of labor and sex trafficking in Allentown and across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. T visas are filed with USCIS, so people elsewhere in the United States can work with us too.
- Languages
- English and Spanish.
- Main forms
- Form I-914 (T status), Supplement A (family), Supplement B (law enforcement declaration), Form I-192 (waiver), Form I-765 (work permit).
- Annual limit
- No more than 5,000 principal applicants per fiscal year; family members are not counted.
- Government fees
- Fee waivers may be requested by statute. See the fee guide.
- Our fees
- Flat fee quoted in writing after review; payment plans available.
- Office
- 609 W. Hamilton Street, No. 102, Allentown, PA 18101 · (484) 763-4984
Information reviewed against official sources, including INA §§ 101(a)(15)(T), 214(o), and 245(l), and 8 C.F.R. §§ 214.201 to 214.205, on November 10, 2026. This page provides general information, not legal advice; it does not predict a decision or create an attorney-client relationship. Policies and fees change.
Reviewed and updated
Private · Unhurried · In your language
Tell us what happened, in your own words and at your own pace.
A first review is confidential. You do not need documents, a police report, or the right legal terms to start.
English and Spanish · Allentown · Pennsylvania · New Jersey · New York · Representation where permitted