Humanitarian classification
I-918 U Nonimmigrant Status
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)
- Denial rate after RFE
- 11.3%
- Median processing
- 334 days
- Form
- I-918
- Initial RFE rate
- 15.8%
- Median exhibit pages
- 140
- Manual assembly
- 8 hrs
- On Docket Build
- 22 min
Statutory criteria
What the record has to establish.
Each element below is a mapped criterion in the Docket Build criteria pack, with its citation and the evidence types that satisfy it.
Qualifying criminal activity
214.14(a)(9)
- Police reports
- Charging documents
- Court records
Substantial physical or mental abuse
214.14(b)(1)
- Medical records
- Psychological evaluation
- Personal declaration
Helpfulness to law enforcement
214.14(b)(3)
- Form I-918 Supplement B, signed and within validity
Occurred in the United States
214.14(b)(4)
- Incident location evidence
Failure modes
What actually draws a request on a U Visa.
Compiled from the request language our customers record on their own matters and from published AAO decisions in this classification.
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
Document checklist
What a complete filing carries.
Full printable checklist →Certification
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
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
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
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