According to an official press release from the Department of Labor, "U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today announced that the labor department's Wage and Hour Division will begin to exercise its authority to certify applications for trafficking victims seeking "T" visas. The division will also certify "U" visa requests when it detects three additional qualifying criminal activities in the course of its workplace investigations: extortion, forced labor, and fraud in foreign labor contracting."

The official press release can be found here.

This will help countless immigrants that have been exploited by their employers in obtaining legal status in the US. U nonimmigrant status is a temporary form of relief extended to victims of qualifying crimes who cooperate with law enforcement but it can lead to legal permanent resident status. For more information on "U Visas" visit www.nyimmigration.org.

If you have been a victim of a crime and want to know if you qualify for a "U Visa" contact us to find out.