U Visa: Created for Victims but Given to Perps

Fact Sheet - Friday, September 5, 2025

Federal Agency Oversight: USCIS
Dependents: U2-5

The Basics:

• The U visa was created for alien victims of “rape, torture, trafficking, incest, domestic violence, sexual assault, abusive sexual contact, prostitution, sexual exploitation, stalking, female genital mutilation, being held hostage, peonage, involuntary servitude, slave trade, kidnapping, abduction, unlawful criminal restraint, false imprisonment, blackmail, extortion, manslaughter, murder, felonious assault, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, perjury, fraud in foreign labor contracting, or attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit any of the above mentioned crimes.” 
• Additionally, the alien must have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse and assist law enforcement in investigating and prosecuting the criminals involved.
• Because eligibility is dependent on cooperation with law enforcement, aliens must provide certification from a qualified law enforcement official to qualify.
• There is an annual numerical cap of 10,000 for U visas, not including their spouses and minor children.
• U visas are authorized to remain in the United States for a period of four years and may be authorized for employment at the discretion of USCIS.
• Aliens with U visas who have been continuously present in the United States for three years are eligible to apply to adjust their status to lawful permanent residence (LPR), along with their spouses and minor children.
• The spouses and children of U visa-holders are also eligible for employment authorization.

The Problem:

• Significant challenges exist in overseeing the U visa, since eligibility is based on both law enforcement certification and the subjective measure of “significant mental or physical abuse.” It is challenging to determine what constitutes significant harm, and USCIS must defer to local authorities (many of which oppose immigration enforcement) for certification of assistance with investigations. 
• The U visa has incentivized fraud in the certification process and in the staging of fake crimes.
• In 2025, a U visa fraud scheme in Louisiana was discovered that had been going on for at least 9 years, involving police officers selling certifications for U visas and creating false reports of crimes.
• A scheme in 2020 found a Mexican national guilty of helping aliens create false robbery reports and even used a box-cutter to cut them as proof of abuse.
• Another example of faking robberies for U Visas comes from New York, where Rambhai Patel staged armed robberies in at least nine convenience stores. 
• In 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report entitled, “USCIS’ U Visa Program Is Not Managed Effectively and Is Susceptible to Fraud.”
• The OIG found that USCIS did not effectively vet law enforcement certifications (deferring to outside organizations for eligibility) and did not track the outcomes of investigations/prosecutions connected with the U visa.
• The OIG also noted that these were long-standing problems that USCIS had failed to address when flagged in previous reviews of the program.
• In 2016, the Senate and House Judiciary Committee Chairmen wrote: “A law enforcement agency investigating a crime can certify a U visa application if the foreign national cooperates in the investigation. However, recent cases have highlighted how the program is being exploited through falsified police reports and bribes to secure U visas allowing foreign nationals to avoid deportation.  According to whistleblowers, such illicit activity to secure U visas is common.”
• A study by USCIS in 2020 found: “For persons who filed a U visa petition between FY 2012 through 2018, over one-third (34.7%) of principal petitioners and 17.5% of derivatives had a previous arrest or apprehension for a criminal offense or an immigration-related civil offense.”
• Due in significant part to fraud and the ability of aliens to use the U visa process to avoid deportation, the backlog of U visa holders seeking to adjust to LPR status now exceeds 400,000 aliens.

LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATION: The U visa has been an unmitigated failure and should be abolished. Fraud in the program is rampant. The fact that aliens are actually staging fake crimes, and that law enforcement officials are selling fraudulent certifications should doom this visa. Moreover, U.S. immigration law also already offers an S visa that allows an alien (and the alien’s spouse, children, and parents) determined by the Attorney General to be in possession of critical information about a criminal or terrorist organization or enterprise to remain in the United States to assist in the investigation or prosecution. This S visa should be sufficient, if the goal is to ensure the successful application of justice to criminals.

ADMINISTRATIVE RECOMMENDATION: USCIS must take the OIG's recommendations seriously and be more skeptical of law enforcement certifications. The agency must actually track investigations and prosecutions connected to U visa aliens, to ensure the cooperation required by law.

“Bona Fide Determination”

The Basics:

• As demand for the U Visa has expanded far beyond the annual numerical limit of 10,000, the Biden Administration in 2021 created the “Bona Fide Determination (BFD)” process for U Visa applicants. 
• The BFD pre-screening process allows alien petitioners to receive employment authorization and protection from removal upon application and before a full vetting or evaluation of their petitions occurs. This means mere application for a U Visa provides the same protections and benefits as approval for the visa itself. 
• This preliminary process simply requires that the application be “made in good faith; without fraud or deceit.” Accordingly, USCIS determines whether a petition is bona fide based largely on whether the petitioner completed the required forms and submitted the required paperwork. If USCIS determines a petition is bona fide, it issues the applicant employment authorization and protection from removal. Eventually, when USCIS gets around to it, a more thorough review of any national security or public safety risks, as well as any other relevant considerations, is conducted as part of the discretionary adjudication.
• The result is that U Visa applicants can live and work in the United States for years before they are vetted at all.
• Since implementing the BDF process in 2021, the number of U Visa applications has increased exponentially:
• FY21 - 17,790 total BFD grants
• FY22 - 41,671 total BFD grants
• FY23 - 39,110 total BFD grants
• FY24 - 102,157 total BFD grants
• FY25 (through June) - 91,051 total BFD grants

The Problem:

• Policies that reward aliens for simply applying for a benefit invite fraudulent applications. This fraud is compounded when applied to a program like the U Visa, which was already rife with fraud.  
• The BFD process allows aliens to remain in the United States for years with deferred action and open-market employment authorization, due to the long wait times for U Visa adjudication. 
• The extreme rise in BFD grants in 2024 and 2025 indicates aliens have recognized the BFD process as an easy way to remain in the country indefinitely. 

LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATION: Congress should eliminate the entire U Visa program.

ADMINISTRATIVE RECOMMENDATION: USCIS should end the BFD process and revoke EAD and deferred action for those granted BFD benefits.