Articles

Battered Spouses Need Not Live in Fear

BATTERED SPOUSES NEED NOT LIVE IN FEAR BY Vaughan de Kirby

The story is an all too frequent one! She married a man that she and her family all believed would be a caring and gentile husband. She learned the truth when she came to the United States to begin her new life with her husband. The man she married began to beat and abuse her. When she tells him she is going seek help, he threatens her with deportation. Is she without hope?

Generally, U.S. citizens, the husband in our case and the wife who is Lawful Permanent Residents file an immigrant visa petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Unfortunately, the U.S. citizen husband here is misusing his control of the process to abuse his wife by threatening to report her. As a result, most battered wives are afraid to report the abuse to the police or other authorities.

Under the Violence Against Women Act passed by Congress in 1994, the spouses and children of United States citizens or lawful permanent residents may self-petition to obtain lawful permanent residency. The immigration provisions of VAWA allow certain battered immigrants to file for immigration relief without the abuser's assistance or knowledge, in order to seek safety and independence from the abuser.

To be eligible to file a self-petition (an application that you file for yourself for immigration benefits) the wife must qualify under one of the following categories:

The wife may self-petition if she is a battered spouse married to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. Unmarried children under the age of 21, who have not filed their own self-petition, may be included on your petition as derivative beneficiaries.

You may self-petition if you are the parent of a child who has been abused by your U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse. Your children (under 21 years of age and unmarried), including those who may not have been abused, may be included on your petition as derivative beneficiaries, if they have not filed their own self-petition.

You may self-petition if you are a battered child (under 21 years of age and unmarried who has been abused by your U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident parent.

To self-petition the spouse or child must meet certain requirements. The self-petitioning spouse must be legally married to the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident batterer. A self-petition may be filed if the marriage was terminated by the abusive spouse’s death within the two years prior to filing. A self-petition may also be filed if the marriage to the abusive spouse was terminated, within the two years prior to filing, by divorce related to the abuse. You must have been battered in the United States unless the abusive spouse is an employee of the United States government or a member of the uniformed services of the United States.

You must have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty during the marriage, or must be the parent of a child who was battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse during the marriage.