Green Card for a Victim of Trafficking (T Nonimmigrant)

To be eligible for a Green Card as a principal T-1 nonimmigrant, you must meet the following conditions:

• You were lawfully admitted to the United States as a T-1 nonimmigrant;
• You still have T-1 nonimmigrant status when you apply for a Green Card;
• You have maintained continuous physical presence in the United States for the shorter period of either:
  • A continuous period of at least 3 years since being lawfully admitted as a T-1 nonimmigrant; or
  • A continuous period during the trafficking investigation or prosecution that the U.S. attorney general has determined is now complete;
• You have shown good moral character since first being admitted as a T-1 nonimmigrant and until we make a decision on your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status; and
• You :
  • Have complied with any reasonable request for assistance in the detection, investigation, or prosecution of acts of trafficking since first being admitted as a T-1 nonimmigrant and until we make a decision on your Form I-485;
  • Would suffer extreme hardship involving unusual and severe harm if you were removed from the United States;
  • Were under 18 years of age at the time at least 1 of the acts of trafficking occurred; or
  • Established you could not cooperate with a reasonable request for assistance at the time you were granted T-1 nonimmigrant status due to physical or psychological trauma.

In addition, before you can obtain a Green Card, you must be admissible to the United States as a lawful permanent resident. If not, we must have granted you a waiver of any applicable grounds of inadmissibility.

To maintain continuous physical presence, you cannot be outside the United States for more than 90 days at a time or for any periods that add up to more than 180 days, unless you can demonstrate that:

• The absence was necessary to assist in the investigation or prosecution of the acts of trafficking; or
• An official involved in the investigation or prosecution of the acts of trafficking certifies that your absence was justified for another reason.

Unless your absence was excused for either of these reasons, you break your continuous physical presence if you are outside the United States for more than 90 days at a time or for any periods that add up to more than 180 days.

You may apply for a Green Card after you have held T-1 nonimmigrant status for 3 years if you have maintained continuous physical presence during those 3 years.

If you apply before meeting the 3-year continuous physical presence requirement, we will reject your application, unless you submit a certification from the U.S. attorney general that indicates that an investigation or prosecution occurred and that investigation or prosecution is complete. To inquire about obtaining this certification, contact T-Adjustment.Cert@usdoj.gov.

To get a Green Card, you must file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, and submit evidence that you meet all the eligibility requirements.

If you are a family member who was granted T nonimmigrant status based on your relationship to a principal T-1 nonimmigrant, you may be eligible for a Green Card if:

• You were lawfully admitted to the United States in T-2, T-3, T-4, T-5 or T-6 nonimmigrant status and you still have this status when you apply for a Green Card;
• The principal T-1 nonimmigrant’s Form I-485:
  • Is currently pending;
  • Is being filed at the same time as your Form I-485; or
  • Was previously approved, and you were initially admitted in derivative T nonimmigrant status before the principal T-1 nonimmigrant became a lawful permanent resident (LPR);
• The principal T-1 nonimmigrant meets all the eligibility requirements for a Green Card; and
• You are admissible to the United States as an LPR, or we have waived any applicable grounds of inadmissibility, when you apply to become an LPR.

You do not have to meet the other eligibility requirements that apply to principal T-1 nonimmigrants, including continuous physical presence and good moral character.

You will not lose your T nonimmigrant status when the principal T-1 nonimmigrant becomes an LPR. However, if you have not previously entered or resided in the United States as a derivative T nonimmigrant, you must be admitted for the first time in derivative T nonimmigrant status before the principal T-1 nonimmigrant becomes an LPR.

After the principal T-1 nonimmigrant becomes an LPR, you can no longer be admitted for the first time as a T nonimmigrant. More information is available at Extension of Status for T and U Nonimmigrants (PDF, 516.41 KB).

If you applied for or received T nonimmigrant status, special confidentiality protections apply to you. These are described in 8 U.S.C. section 1367 and in the USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 1, Part A, Chapter 7, Privacy and Confidentiality.

If you do not feel safe receiving mail from USCIS at your home address, you may include a safe address on your application in the safe mailing address field. You do not have to be living at the safe address. This address may be a post office box; the address of a friend, your attorney, or a community-based organization that is helping you; or any other address where you can safely and promptly receive mail.If you change your mailing address after filing an application for T nonimmigrant status or Form I-485, notify us according to the instructions on our Change of Address Procedures for VAWA/T/U Cases and Form I-751 Abuse Waivers webpage.

If you apply for T nonimmigrant status with USCIS, any information about you or your application for T nonimmigrant status is strictly confidential and is protected by law. DHS can only share this information in very limited circumstances and may not deny your application based on evidence provided solely by your trafficker.