Humanitarian · document checklist
U Visa document checklist
The U visa turns on a law enforcement certification (Form I-918 Supplement B) that has a strict validity window, plus evidence of substantial physical or mental abuse arising from the qualifying criminal activity. Certification expiry is the single most avoidable failure in this classification and is a pure calendar-tracking problem.
Governing standard
Substantial physical or mental abuse plus certified helpfulness
8 CFR 214.14; INA 101(a)(15)(U)
Top RFE trigger: Supplement B signed outside the six-month validity window
- Documents listed
- 9
- Always required
- 4
- Median exhibit pages
- 140
- Initial RFE rate
- 15.8%
The checklist
Grouped by the purpose each document serves.
Documents marked as always required belong in every filing of this type. The rest apply where the fact pattern calls for them.
Certification
1 required of 2
Form I-918 Supplement B
Signed within the six-month validity window at filing
Certifying agency contact recordwhere applicable
For follow-up if re-certification becomes necessary
Criminal activity and harm
2 required of 4
Police reports and charging documents
Certified copies with translations where needed
Medical recordswhere applicable
Documenting physical harm, redacted for third parties
Psychological evaluationwhere applicable
From a licensed provider
Personal declaration
Signed, chronological, cross-referenced to exhibits
Admissibility and forms
1 required of 3
Form I-192 waiverwhere applicable
Where any ground of inadmissibility applies
Form I-918 and G-28
Cross-checked against the certification and declaration
Derivative family evidencewhere applicable
Relationship documents for I-918A derivatives
This page prints cleanly — use it as a client-facing document request list.
Failure modes
What draws a request on a U Visa.
Having every document on the list is necessary and not sufficient. These are the structural problems that produce requests even when the evidence is present.
Full RFE trends hub- Supplement B signed outside the validity window at the filing date
- Declaration that does not connect the abuse to the certified criminal activity
- Inadmissibility ground apparent on the record with no I-192 filed
- Derivative relationship documents missing translations
Also humanitarian
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