On March 12, 2024, ACLU of Virginia filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit on behalf of an immigrant survivor of domestic violence whose request for a U visa certification the Roanoke Police Department is refusing to certify in open defiance of state law.
The U nonimmigrant visa, or U visa, is a form of immigration relief for noncitizen survivors of violent crimes or human trafficking. When people harmed by qualifying criminal activity cooperate with law enforcement agencies to investigate or prosecute that crime, the U visa provides them with a pathway to citizenship.
In 2021, the Virginia General Assembly enacted a law requiring local law enforcement agencies to respond to U visa certification requests by either certifying or denying them with a written explanation for why the applicant does not qualify. The law additionally establishes a timeline by which agencies must respond, and it requires that every agency publish the procedures by which they will do so.
In 2012, our client aided the Roanoke Police Department’s investigation and prosecution of her partner, who physically abused her. After the conclusion of her case, the police department provided her with a U visas certification. Once our client became eligible to adjust her status to become a lawful, permanent resident, she was required to obtain a recertification of her U visa from the Roanoke Police Department to demonstrate that she participated in the investigation and prosecution of the crime that harmed her.
After filing our lawsuit, Roanoke Police Department agreed to settle the case and agreed to certify our client's U visa. Additionally, the settlement required Roanoke Police Department to adopt a U visa certification policy that ensures all qualifying requests are responded to and not unreasonably denied. As part of this settlement, Roanoke Police Department has already made public their procedures for processing the requests accessible on the city's website.
