Battered Spouse, Children and Parents
The Violence against Woman Act (VAWA) permits abused spouse, children or parents to apply for an immigrant visa petition. In most circumstances, the U.S citizens or permanent residents' abused spouse, children and parent can apply for a petition by themselves. Under VAWA, the abuser is not required to know about the abused has applied for immigration benefits and as a result, the abused spouse, children and parents will be able to obtain protection and freedom from the abuser. Both women and men have the same benefits under the VAWA provisions. Each category under the VAWA needs to meet certain criteria to qualify for benefits.
The spouse of a U.S. citizen or green card holder may submit an application for his/herself if he/she is presently abused or was abused in the past by the spouse. The abused spouse may also include the information of any single children under the age of 21 in the petition, if the children did not submit an application for themselves. The abused spouse may be eligible if he/she: 1) as mentioned earlier, is married to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident who is an abuser of the children or the spouse, 2) the U.S. citizen or permanent resident abuser abandoned their legal status in the U.S. within the last 24 months before filing because of a domestic violence confrontation, 3) is no longer married to the abuser due to death or divorce, as a result of the abuse, within the last 24 months before filing, 4) believed that he/she and the U.S. citizen or green card holder spouse were legally married, however, they were not lawfully wedded since the abusive spouse was married to someone else, 5) the abusive spouse worked for the U.S. government or U.S. uniform services and abused their spouse abroad during their services, 6) married in good faith, not only for ulterior motives such as Immigration status, 7) is the parent of an abused child by their U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, 
has lived with the abusive spouse, and 9) is of good moral character.
The abused parent may submit an application for his/herself if the U.S citizen or permanent resident spouse abuses their child. The petitioned filed by the parent may also include the children even the ones that were not abused, if the children did not file for themselves. A parent may also submit a petition if the U.S. citizen son or daughter abuses them. An abused parent is eligible if he/she: 1) is abused by their U.S. citizen son or daughter, 2) has lived with the abusive son or daughter, 3) is the parent of a U.S. citizen son or daughter who abandoned their citizenship status because of domestic violence or were the parent of an abusive U.S. citizen son or daughter who died within 24 months before filing, and 4) is of good moral character.
A child under 21 years old, single and abused by U.S. citizen or permanent resident parent may submit a petition for his/herself and include their children. Although the abused child may petition as a child after the age of 21 and before the age of 25, he/she has to show that the filing was delayed mostly because of the abuse. The abused child is eligible if he/she: 1) is the U.S. citizen or permanent resident's child who was or whose parent was abused, 2) is the child of a U.S. citizen parent who abandoned their citizenship or permanent residence status because of domestic violence, 3) has lived with the abusive parent, 4) has proof of the relationship with the abusive parent, 5) is abused abroad by a U.S. citizen parent or permanent resident who worked for the U.S. government or U.S. uniform services during their services, and 6) is of good moral character if the child is 14 years old or older.
Once the applicant for the petition meets all the requirements, the Immigration Service will send him/her a Prima Facie Determination Notice, which will be valid for 150 days and can be taken to government agencies to seek public benefits as domestic violence victims. If after reviewing the application, the USCIS approves it, any applicant without legal immigration status in the U.S. may remain in the United States, after being placed in deferred action. After deferred action is granted, the applicant may be eligible to apply for employment authorization. Ultimately, an approved case will make the applicant eligible to apply for a permanent resident status, including the children named in the approved application.
