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The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced modifications to the USCIS Policy Manual to align it with the Final Rule on the Classification for Victims of Severe Forms of Trafficking in Persons and Eligibility for T Nonimmigrant Status, which was published in the Federal Register on April 30, 2024.

The T nonimmigrant status, also known as the T visa, allows certain victims of human trafficking to remain in the United States for an initial period of up to four years. This update by USCIS is effective immediately and generally applies to pending applications or those filed on or after August 28, 2024, with the exception of the bona fide determination process.

USCIS will modify the Policy Manual to:

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  • Emphasize and expand the “any credible evidence” provision and its applicability to T nonimmigrant status applications;
  • Highlight a victim-centered and trauma-informed approach for adjudicating T nonimmigrant status applications;
  • Explain the bona fide determination process for T nonimmigrant applicants;
  • Establish additional exceptions to the general rule that departures from the U.S. after a person has been trafficked prevent an applicant from establishing physical presence due to trafficking;
  • Revise the definition of “law enforcement agency”;
  • Clarify the requirement that an applicant must demonstrate that a perpetrator engaged in specific prohibited actions “for the purpose of” inducing commercial sexual acts or subjecting the applicant to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery; and
  • Explain that an applicant generally must report their trafficking to law enforcement authorities with jurisdiction to investigate the trafficking in order to meet the reporting requirement.

This modification appears to be a response to the ongoing issue of human trafficking at the southern border of the country. While USCIS’s efforts to streamline the process are recognized, it would be preferable, from our perspective, for the government to address the root of the problem and eradicate it completely. These criminal organizations operate externally, so there should be a multilateral program with regional countries to curb these crimes, which affect not only the victims but also their families and the U.S. population as a whole.