- Hi, This is my Moumita Rahman,
the immigration attorney here
to help you navigate this complex world of immigration.
Today, I'm going to talk
about a very important misconception
about VAWA or the self petition for a green card.
Before I go any further,
thank you so much for joining me here.
I really appreciate you following me and keeping up
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Let's get to it today. Let's talk about VAWA.
VAWA stands for the Violence Against Women's Act.
It is used to help people get a green card by themselves
when they are
in a bad marriage where their spouse
is not treating them well.
But another thing that VAWA is also used for is
to help parents
of adults U S citizen children get green cards.
Now, one of the central components of VAWA is
that the person petitioning for themselves
to get a green card must have suffered bad treatment
at the hands of their spouse or their us citizen children.
There is a frequent misconception amongst
even immigration attorneys where they believe
that the person must have suffered physical violence
in order to qualify for VAWA, but this is incorrect.
VAWA underneath the law actually allows
for something called extreme cruelty.
Now, what is extreme cruelty?
Extreme cruelty in other words is emotional abuse.
When you have suffered a pattern of behavior
by your US citizen spouse, or your green card holder spouse,
or your adult US citizen child,
that makes you feel really bad,
it makes me feel terrible.
Your spouse or your child is putting you down,
cursing at you,
perhaps controlling your finances
or not giving you enough money to live on.
There are so many ways that you can prove
that you have been subjected to extreme cruelty
by your spouse or your child.
You may have been told by some attorneys in the past
that there must have been some physical violence
that your spouse or your child must have hit you,
or maybe even you were told that you needed
to have a police report.
This is all incorrect.
One of the ways to prove your case is
through your own words.
Now, the level of evidence that you must give
for a valid case is actually much more forgiving because
of the fact that the government knows
that it is oftentimes very hard
to find corroborating evidence
when you are abused emotionally or physically.
But this does not mean you can't not give any evidence.
You do have
to give as much corroborating evidence as you can
of the treatment that you suffered at the hands
of your spouse or your child.
So please keep this in mind.
if you find yourself
in a position where you're without a green card,
you're an immigrant, you're in a relationship,
or you have an adult child that is not treating you well,
the first thing that you should do is explore your options.
When you explore the option of VAWA,
if it is a right fit for you,
it can be so valuable
in helping you get the integration relief that you need.
So if you need a consultation, feel free to call my office.
My telephone number is 212-248-7907.
Make sure you follow my page
because I've done many, many videos about VAWA
and how to prove that you have been subjected
to bad treatment by your family member.
So I hope you enjoyed this video,
and I hope that you found that useful.
Please stay tuned and I'll see you next week.
- [Announcer] This video is for informational purposes only
and does not constitute legal advice.
For proper legal advice on your case,
please call us to set up a consultation.