What is WRONG with VAWA?
by Angela MW Thanyachareon
February 29, 2016

What is VAWA?  VAWA is the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).  According to the USCIS website, this law allows battered immigrants to petition for legal status in the United States without relying on abusive U.S.citizen or legal permanent resident spouses, parents or children to sponsor their Adjustment of Status (Form I-485) applications. For many immigrant victims of domestic violence, battery and extreme cruelty, the U.S.citizen or lawful permanent resident family members who would sponsor their applications will threaten to withhold legal immigration sponsorship as a tool of abuse. The purpose of the VAWA program is to allow victims the opportunity to “self-petition” or independently seek legal immigration status in the U.S.

Sometimes domestic violence can occur during a bonafide marriage and the couple never lived together.  The victim/self-petitioner meets all of the requirements to VAWA but never lived with the abuser/spouse.  Is this fair?  Is this what US Congress intended?  The victim/self-petitioner will not receive a green card because the victim/self-petitioner was never allowed to live with the abuser/spouse?   Can you think of circumstances where a husband and wife have a bonafide or legitimate marriage (according to immigration laws) but is not allowed to live together?  I will name a few instances:  incarceration, military school, deployment, and  long distance relationship immediately after the marriage ceremony.    What about when the abuse occured on the honeymoon and there was an immediate separation at the hotel?  

Did you know that there are five types of domestic violence?  Physical, Sexual, Psychological, Emotional, and Economic are the five types of domestic violence.  According to The Advocates for Human Rights,  Stop Violence Against Women, a project with The Advocates for Human Rights, their website lists the five types of Domestic Violence:

Physical violence involves the use of physical force against another. Examples include hitting, shoving, grabbing, biting, restraining, shaking, choking, burning, forcing drug/alcohol use, and assault with a weapon, etc. Physical violence may or may not result in an injury that requires medical attention.

Sexual violence involves the violation of an individual’s bodily integrity (sexual assault), including coercing sexual contact, rape, and prostitution, as well as any unwelcome sexual behavior (sexual harassment), including treating someone in a sexually demeaning manner or any other conduct of a sexual nature, whether physical, verbal, or non-verbal. Sexual abuse also includes behavior which limits reproductive rights, such as preventing use of contractive methods and forcing abortion.
Psychological abuse is often characterized as intimidation, threats of harm, and isolation. Examples include instilling fear in an intimate partner through threatening behavior, such as damaging property or abusing pets, constant supervision, or controlling what the victim does and who they talk to. Spiritual abuse may be included as a type of psychological abuse. It involves the misuse of spiritual or religious beliefs to manipulate or exert power and control over an intimate partner (i.e., using scripture to justify abuse or rearing the children in a faith or religious practice the partner has not agreed to).
Emotional abuse involves undermining an individual’s sense of self-worth. Examples of emotional abuse include constant criticism, name-calling, embarrassing, mocking, humiliating, and treating like a servant.
Economic abuse involves making or attempting to make the victim financially dependent on the abuser. Examples of economic abuse include preventing or forbidding an intimate partner from working or gaining and education, controlling the financial resources, and withholding access to economic resources.

Of the five types of domestic violence, four types can occur without a couple living together.  Should USCIS approve a VAWA case when the victim/self-petitioner has proven a prima facie VAWA case without the couple living together?  In my opinion, every case deserves a detailed review before a blanket USCIS denial.

If you have more questions or would like to apply for VAWA, please email me at info@ThanyachareonLaw.com.

To learn more about VAWA, go to  

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/vawa_factsheet.pdf

http://www.stopvaw.org/forms_of_domestic_violence

http://www.womenslaw.org/laws_state_type.php?id=10270&state_code=US

https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/battered-spouse-children-parents

http://4vawa.org/

http://www.asistahelp.org/

https://www.justice.gov/ovw