U/T Visa

U Visas and T Visas

U visas and T visas are issued by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and are designed to increase crime reporting among immigrant communities. They provide immigration benefits to victims who have been helpful, are helpful, or will be helpful in the detection, investigation, prosecution, conviction, or sentencing of certain qualifying crimes and certain noncitizen members of their family.

U Visa: provides immigration relief for victims of 28 different crimes that fall into three categories: violent crimes, trafficking crimes, and crimes that obstruct our law enforcement officers.
T Visa: provides immigration relief for victims of sex trafficking, labor trafficking, and forced labor.

Certification

A certification from a law enforcement agency is required to apply for a U visa (but not a T visa). The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is an agency that can certify both U visas and T visas.

If you or someone in your family are not citizens of the United States, you have the right to request a U visa and T visa certification from our office.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office plays a limited role in the U visa and T visa process by certifying the following elements:

Qualifying crime: Whether a crime victim was a victim of a qualifying crime
Helpfulness: Whether a victim was, is, or is likely to be helpful in the detection, investigation, conviction, or sentencing of a qualifying crime.

Eligibility to request certification from the HCAO

For victims who have been helpful, are helpful, or will be helpful in the detection, investigation, prosecution, conviction, or sentencing of certain qualifying crimes and certain noncitizen members of their family when the applicant or qualifying criminal activity has a nexus to Hennepin County including, but not limited to:

Some or all of the qualified criminal activity took place within the boundaries of Hennepin County;

The applicant lives in Hennepin County, regardless of where the crime occurred;

A nonprofit organization, medical clinic, or hospital in Hennepin County provided a service to the applicant;

The applicant retained an immigration attorney who offices in Hennepin County;

The Fort Snelling Immigration Court, which is located within the county lines of Hennepin County, would have or has jurisdiction over the applicant's immigration case.

The best way to ask for a U visa or T visa certification is through an immigration lawyer, since the certification is part of a longer process and since a certification request made during an open case will be disclosed to the defense.

List of Immigration Attorneys - provided by The Advocates for Human Rights (English)

Lista de Abogados de Inmigración - Proporcionada por los Defensores de los Derechos Humanos

Our Policy

The new U visa and T visa policy of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO) removes obstacles in its former practices that can discourage noncitizen victims from reporting crimes.

Easy-to-remember email address for any U visa or T visa inquiries: visa@hennepin.us
Swift Support: The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office processes certification requests within 30 days, even in open cases, or 7 days for victims in deportation proceedings
Trauma-Informed: The HCAO reviews a victim’s helpfulness with a trauma-informed lens
Victim-Centered: The HCAO does not consider a victim’s criminal history
Culturally Specific Services: The HCAO employs a diverse group of multilingual victim services specialists and is committed to culturally specific services and language access.

Full Hennepin County Attorney's Office U and T Visa Policy

Politica Completa de Visas UT de la Fiscalia del Condado de Hennepin

How to send U Visa or T Visa certification requests

Email: The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO) prefers that applicants or their representatives send certification requests and inquiries by emailing visa@hennepin.us.

Unless otherwise requested by the HCAO, applicants and/or their representatives are not to submit any documentation as part of their requests other than the following information:

Full legal name and aliases, A-Number (optional), date of birth, and gender

Case-identifying information (for example: court file, police report, or law enforcement CCN numbers) and name of investigating agency

Whether the applicant is requesting expedited processing (See Section II(c) of this policy)

If a certification request is submitted by a representative of a victim, the representative should also submit the following information:

A signed release of information (in an appropriate language for the applicant)

Whether the victim’s representative also represents other indirect victims/qualified applicants (See Section II(e)(ii) of this policy) related to the matter, and, if so, whether they wish to have separate I-918B or I-914B forms for any indirect victims

Mail: If an applicant or their representative must instead send a request by mail, the request should be mailed to:

Hennepin County Attorney’s Office

Attn: Immigration Policy Unit - U/T Visa Requests

300 South 6th Street, MC 153

Minneapolis, MN 55487

Voicemail: If you have any questions, you can call (612) 596-0550 and leave a voice message in your preferred language. Please note that statements relating to an open criminal case may be disclosed to the defense.