How to obtain permanent residence through the T visa?

There are ways, through the T visa, to obtain legal migratory status via an abusive employer who does not pay on time or does not pay full salary. How can this situation get you to permanent residence?

The T visa is one of the humanitarian visas. There are three humanitarian visas: T visa, U visa, and VAWA visa. These offer a way to obtain legal migratory status without leaving the US if the person entered the country unlawfully if it was deported and came back unlawfully, or if it has several entries and exits. These cases aren’t always easy, so it’s important to consult with an immigration attorney that has experience with this kind of case.

Who is the T visa for?

The T visa is for those who were (or are) human trafficking victims. When thinking about human trafficking, it can often be thought that it involves some kind of sexual activity, when is not necessarily that way. Nowadays, the T visa can apply for many forms of mistreatment which happen within a workplace. For instance, if an employer is not paying on time if it’s not paying full salary, or if there is constant misleading and mistreatment around payments.

It not only applies if the employer is not paying in time and form. If there is mistreatment or abuse from the employer’s end, and this one threat on accusing the employee to the immigration department, or threats him/her physically or sexually, this can provide a way to obtain legal migratory status through the T visa.

Some examples include cases in which a person entered the US under promises of getting a well-paid job and, for instance, a 40-hour-per-week schedule plus overtime. If that was the original agreement, and when entering the US and starting working for this employer, he/she doesn’t pay in full and on time, this could represent a T visa applicable case. The employer might retain your payments based on promises of receiving a client’s payment. It is worth mentioning that this is not how the law works in the US. An employer is forced to pay on time and in full.

This situation may occur each time the payroll is due, as well as the employer may pay an amount less than initially agreed. There may also be threats regarding possible complaints around this situation, or that the employer, taking advantage of the employee’s migratory status, threatens to call the immigration department, to harm his family, or to harm him/her physically or sexually. It can also be that the schedule is not being respected and that it extends more than it should without recognizement from the employer.

If, for instance, your work day starts at 7:00 am, you don’t have time to eat and leave until late at night when the employer is only paying some hours a week; this constitutes a type of abuse/mistreatment from the employer. If the employer often says things like “You don’t have documents, and if you complain again I’ll call immigration or the police department and tell them you are robbing me” when talking to you, this also counts as abuse or mistreatment.

Maybe your employer does not threaten you with calling immigration or the police department but mistreats you emotionally by saying things like “You are so dumb that this is the only job you’ll ever get here”. If it’s a recurrent situation, coupled with incomplete or late payments, can be enough to be considered mistreatment and provide a way to obtain legal migratory status through the T visa.

The T visa can also apply in situations where an employer is not paying extra hours. The law in the US forces, in most cases, employers to pay extra hours if the employee works over 40 hours a week.

This kind of abuse and mistreatment can give a person a way to obtain legal migratory status through a T visa. It must be considered that the T visa is one of the humanitarian visas, reason for which it can ‘forgive’ things that other migratory procedures might not be able to. For instance, it can forgive unlawful entries to the United States, previous deportations and even forgive the permanent bar.

As you may realize, the T visa can open up the way to obtain permanent residence.

Looking for assessment for a possible T visa case? Contact us through the following form or via phone at (202) 933-3379 and get a free case evaluation.