DOS Issues Interim Regulations on T-2, T-3, and T-4 Visas
Posted Jul 04, 2003

In 2000, the President signed into law the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA). Under the law and current organizational structure, a DHS agency must issue the T-1 visa to individuals whom the Secretary for Homeland Security has determined are victims of a "severe form of trafficking in persons." The T-1 is available to foreign nationals in the U.S., American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Mariana Islands, or their respective ports of entry. The phrase, "severe form of trafficking in persons," is defined under to the TVPA to mean the person is a victim of "sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age or the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery." The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) previously issued T regulations. This was covered February 8, 2002 in our article, T Visa Procedures Established, available on MurthyDotCom.

Under the Interim U.S. Department of State (DOS) Regulation, a spouse, child, or the parent of a T-1 status holder who is under age 21 may obtain a derivative T visa from the DOS if the person is able to prove his/her relationship to the primary T-1 status holder, can show that s/he is otherwise admissible, and has an approved Form I-914, Supplement A. The visa may be issued for up to three years but will run concurrently with the validity period of the primary individual's T-1. A person in T-2, T-3, or T-4 status may apply for an EAD card once s/he has entered the U.S. The initial EAD will be valid for a one-year period but may be renewed as long as the person remains in T-2, T-3, or T-4 status. Note that those derivative applicants who are in the U.S. may apply for their EADs concurrently with their I-914, Supplement A applications.

In order to obtain T-2, T-3, or T-4 status, the applicant must prove to the DHS that s/he will suffer extreme hardship if permission is not granted to remain or join the T-1 status holder. All evidence proving extreme hardship should be submitted at the time the I-914, Supplement A is filed. This is an added layer of difficulty for the derivatives, as the T-1 must prove that s/he is in one of the locations listed above due to trafficking; that s/he, if 15 years of age or older, has complied with any reasonable request from law enforcement for assistance in the investigation or prosecution of acts of trafficking, and that s/he is likely to suffer hardship involving unusual and severe harm upon removal in order to obtain his/her own status.

Even if a family member has a T-1 visa, one seeking derivative status should consider whether any other alternative visas may be available to him/her, as it will be difficult to prove extreme hardship. We commend the DOS, however, for issuing these interim implementing regulations so that those who do meet the criteria may be reunited with their T-1 family members when they qualify for the T-2, T-3, and T-4 visas.