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No agency is required to. Unlike California, New York and Illinois, Texas has no statute requiring a law enforcement agency to respond to a U visa certification request, no deadline for answering one, and no procedure for challenging a refusal. Whether the certification gets signed in Texas depends on the individual agency, and increasingly on the individual supervisor.
That needs saying plainly because a survivor without status is often told to just get the police to sign it, as if that were a formality. In Texas it is not a formality and it is not a right.
What follows is what the federal rules actually require, so that a request can be made correctly the first time, and what to do when the answer is no or is nothing at all.
Schiffer Law Firm is a Texas personal injury firm and does not file immigration petitions. What we can do is handle the civil case and explain how the two interact.
Congress created U nonimmigrant status in the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, including the Battered Immigrant Women’s Protection Act. USCIS describes it as set aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity.
The USCIS Policy Manual sets the eligibility requirements for a principal petitioner, who must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that they are or were the victim of qualifying criminal activity occurring in the United States or its territories, possess information about the crime, have been, are being or are likely to be helpful to law enforcement or prosecutors, suffered substantial physical or mental abuse as a result, and are admissible or warrant a waiver.
8 C.F.R. Section 214.14 defines a certifying agency as a federal, state or local law enforcement agency, prosecutor, judge or other authority that has responsibility for the investigation or prosecution of a qualifying crime. The definition expressly includes agencies with criminal investigative jurisdiction in their areas of expertise, and it names child protective services, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor as examples.
A certifying official is the head of the certifying agency, a person in a supervisory role specifically designated by the head of the agency to issue these certifications, or a federal, state or local judge.
Why that matters. A refusal from one police department is not the end of the inquiry. Depending on the facts there may be a prosecutor, another agency with jurisdiction, a judge, or a federal agency that could sign. People stop after the first no because they were told the police were the only option.
Section 214.14(c)(2)(i) requires the petition to include Form I-918, Supplement B, signed by a certifying official within the six months immediately preceding the filing of Form I-918.
A certification obtained and then held while other paperwork is assembled can go stale. If it does, the request has to be made again, to an agency that already has no obligation to say yes.
It is evidence, not a decision. The certification is initial evidence in a petition USCIS decides. Signing does not grant status and does not bind USCIS.
It does not require charges or a conviction. The requirement is helpfulness to the detection, investigation, prosecution, conviction or sentencing of qualifying criminal activity. A case that was never filed, or that was declined, does not by itself defeat a certification.
It can be withdrawn. Section 214.14 provides for revocation where the certifying official withdraws the certification or disavows its contents in writing. A certification is not a permanent guarantee, and continued helpfulness matters.
Section 214.14 provides that the total number of people who may be issued a U-1 visa or granted U-1 status may not exceed 10,000 in any fiscal year.
When the cap is reached, qualifying petitioners are placed on a waiting list and receive written notice. Priority is by filing date, oldest first, and numbers are issued in that order in the next fiscal year. The regulation provides for deferred action or parole for petitioners on the waiting list.
The practical consequence is years, not months. A survivor deciding whether to report should know she is not choosing between reporting and a quick resolution.
Immigration status does not bar a personal injury claim in Texas. A survivor without status can sue a hotel, an apartment complex, an employer or a business for failing to protect her, and can recover.
Status is nonetheless a subject defendants sometimes raise, and a survivor is entitled to counsel who will address it rather than be surprised by it.
A civil claim also generates something a certification request often lacks: a documented, organized account of the crime, the injuries and the cooperation given. That record is useful to whoever is handling the immigration petition.
No Texas statute requires a certifying agency to respond to a U visa certification request, imposes a deadline, or creates a review procedure. Individual Texas agencies do have internal policies, and those vary, so the first step is to ask the specific agency for its written certification policy.
Every statute and case linked above was read at its primary source. Texas statutes change every legislative session and case law is constantly changing.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Ask in writing and keep the copy. A dated written request, addressed to the designated certifying official rather than to a front desk, is what makes a later follow-up or a request to a different agency possible.
Document the helpfulness. Every interview, every call returned, every appointment kept. Helpfulness is the element an agency will scrutinize, and it is provable only if it was recorded.
Do not let the certification go stale. The six month rule is measured backward from filing. Coordinate the certification request with whoever is filing the petition.
The first conversation is free, it is confidential, and it does not commit you to anything.
Schiffer Law Firm handles the civil claim. We do not file immigration petitions, and we will say so rather than take a case we are not the right firm for. What we can do is tell you whether there is a civil case, how immigration status does and does not affect it, and what a certification request should look like before it is sent.
Your immigration status is not a reason we would decline a case, and it is not something you have to raise before we will talk to you.
If you are an advocate or a counselor asking on someone’s behalf, you are welcome to call with a general question. We will not ask you for her name.
There is no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Call 713-521-0059.
No. Texas has no statute requiring an agency to respond to a certification request, no deadline for answering, and no procedure for challenging a refusal. Some other states mandate a response. Texas does not.
Under 8 C.F.R. 214.14, a certifying agency includes a federal, state or local law enforcement agency, a prosecutor, a judge, or another authority responsible for investigating or prosecuting the qualifying crime, expressly including agencies such as child protective services, the EEOC and the Department of Labor. A judge may sign.
No. The requirement is helpfulness to the detection, investigation, prosecution, conviction or sentencing of qualifying criminal activity. A case that was declined or never filed does not by itself defeat a certification.
It must be signed by a certifying official within the six months immediately preceding the filing of Form I-918. A certification held too long before filing goes stale and must be obtained again.
Yes. No more than 10,000 U-1 visas or grants of U-1 status per fiscal year. Qualifying petitioners beyond the cap go on a waiting list by filing date and may receive deferred action or parole while waiting.
Yes. Immigration status does not bar a personal injury claim in Texas. A survivor without status can sue a property owner, employer or business for failing to protect her.
