immigration LAW
All services of the Women’s Law Center of Maryland are free, confidential and – pending capacity – available to all persons regardless of gender/assigned sex at birth, race, national origin, ethnicity, age, religion, as well as disability or veteran status. Accommodations, including translation and interpretation services, are available upon request.
MULTI-ETHNIC DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROJECT (MEDOVI)
(443) 699 - 1001
The Multi-Ethnic Domestic Violence Project provides free immigration legal services to foreign born Maryland residents who are filing based on an experience of intimate partner violence, human sex trafficking and/or sexual assault.
Services include:
Help completing and filing VAWA self-petitions
U-visa and T-visa application guidance
Petitions to remove conditions on permanent resident status
Citizenship petitions
Limited affirmative asylum cases based on domestic violence
Accompaniment to court hearings and referrals to other community programs as needed
Support in filing for additional family members.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: IMMIGRATION
Violence Against Women Act: Eligibility Requirements for a VAWA Self-Petition
In order to qualify for VAWA, you must meet the following::
You have a qualifying relationship as the spouse, intended spouse, or former spouse of an abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident if:
You are married to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident abuser; or if divorced, the divorce was within the past two years and other exceptions or if divorced, the divorce was within the past two years and other exceptions;
Your marriage to the abuser was legally terminated by death (U.S. citizen spouses only) or a divorce (for reasons related to the abuse) within the 2 years prior to filing your petition; or
You believed that you were legally married to your abusive U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse but the marriage was not legitimate solely because of the bigamy of your abusive spouse.
You experienced extreme cruelty or battery at the hands of your spouse. (If you are applying as a spouse, you may also be eligible if your U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse subjected your child to battery or extreme cruelty);
You have lived with your spouse
You are a person of good moral character
Victims of Criminal Activity: U Nonimmigrant Eligibility
You may qualify for U status which is for victims of crime if you meet the following:
You have experienced intimate partner violence and/or sexual assault
You suffered substantial physical or mental injury as a result of the crime
You have information about the crime that you were a victim of
You have cooperated with law enforcement regarding the crime
The crime occurred in the United States or violated U.S. laws.
Victims of Human Trafficking: T Nonimmigrant Status
T nonimmigrant status is for individuals who have experienced human trafficking. MEDOVI provides services for those who have suffered from human sex trafficking.
Under federal law, a “severe form of trafficking in persons” is:
Sex trafficking: When someone recruits, harbors, transports, provides, solicits, patronizes, or obtains a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act, where the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or the person being induced to perform such act is under 18 years of age; or
Labor trafficking: When someone recruits, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains a person for labor or services using force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.