ATLAS/BRIEFINGLaw, organized for consequential decisions.

TAG

Humanitarian relief

VAWA, U, T, cancellation, and protection-based relief.

IMM-07 · 01

VAWA Self-Petitions, U Visas, and T Visas: Choosing Among Three Humanitarian Routes

8 MIN · IMM

Three humanitarian routes answer three different questions: who harmed you, what the harm was, and what a law-enforcement agency is willing to confirm. The answers rarely point to the same form.

  • VAWA self-petitions run on Form I-360 and need no agency signature; the relationship to an abusive citizen or resident does the qualifying work.
  • U visas require a signed Form I-918 Supplement B certification from a qualifying agency and are capped at 10,000 principal grants per year.
  • T visas require compliance with reasonable law-enforcement requests, with exceptions for minors and for trauma-based inability to comply.
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IMM-08 · 02

Cancellation of Removal for Nonpermanent Residents: Proving the Four Elements

8 MIN · IMM

This relief is decided by an immigration judge, not a service center, and it is lost far more often on the presence clock and the hardship standard than on sympathy.

  • Non-LPR cancellation requires ten years of continuous physical presence, good moral character, no disqualifying conviction, and hardship to a qualifying relative.
  • The hardship standard is exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, parent, or child — never to the applicant.
  • The stop-time rule ends the presence clock on service of a notice to appear or on commission of certain offenses.
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IMM-09 · 03

Immigration Detention and Bond Hearings: Who Is Eligible and What the Judge Weighs

8 MIN · IMM

A bond hearing answers two questions and nothing else: is this person a danger, and will this person come back to court. Everything in the packet should serve one of the two.

  • Discretionary custody under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) allows an immigration judge to release a person on bond or conditional parole.
  • Mandatory detention under § 1226(c) removes that authority for people detained on specified criminal grounds, and Congress expanded those categories in 2025.
  • The judge weighs danger to the community first and flight risk second; failing the danger question ends the hearing.
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IMM-21 · 04

Military Naturalisation and Parole in Place for Service Families

7 MIN · IMM

Service changes the naturalisation test, and a discretionary parole policy has changed what family members can do without leaving the country. This brief separates the statutory rules from the policy ones.

  • INA 328 allows naturalisation after qualifying honourable service, with the residence and physical-presence requirements substantially reduced.
  • INA 329 covers service during designated periods of hostilities and removes several requirements that apply to ordinary applicants.
  • Military naturalisation runs on the standard application plus a certification of service completed by the applicant's branch.
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IMM-22 · 05

Following to Join: Derivative Asylum and Refugee Petitions on Form I-730

8 MIN · IMM

Form I-730 moves a spouse or unmarried child into the principal's protected status. Two facts decide most cases: when the petition was filed, and when the family relationship began.

  • A principal asylee or refugee may petition for a spouse and unmarried children under 21 using Form I-730, filed separately for each beneficiary.
  • The petition is generally due within two years of the asylum grant or refugee admission, and USCIS may extend that window for humanitarian reasons.
  • The qualifying relationship must have existed before the principal was granted asylum or admitted as a refugee, not afterwards.
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IMM-23 · 06

The Asylum One-Year Deadline and Its Exceptions

9 MIN · IMM

Asylum applications are barred after one year unless an exception applies. This brief sets out what counts as changed or extraordinary circumstances and how the reasonable-period requirement is applied.

  • An asylum application must be filed within one year of the applicant's last arrival, proved by clear and convincing evidence of the arrival date.
  • Two statutory exceptions exist: changed circumstances materially affecting eligibility, and extraordinary circumstances directly related to the delay in filing.
  • Either exception must be followed by filing within a reasonable period, judged case by case rather than against a fixed number of days.
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IMM-24 · 07

Immigration Court Logistics: Venue Changes, Continuances, and Filing Rules

9 MIN · IMM

Removal cases are lost on logistics more often than on law. This brief covers where a case sits, how it moves, when more time is granted, and the filing rules that carry hard consequences.

  • Venue lies with the immigration court where the charging document was filed, and only an immigration judge can change it, on a good-cause motion.
  • A venue motion normally requires the respondent's new address, pleadings to the charges, and a statement of the relief that will be sought.
  • Continuances are granted for good cause, and both Attorney General and Board decisions since 2018 have narrowed what qualifies, especially for collateral applications.
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