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Abused Step-parents may file VAWA petitions

On Behalf of | Sep 8, 2011 | Firm News |

USCIS recently released a new policy memorandum last week affecting I-360 applications. It clarifies and adds revisions to the Adjudicator’s Field Manual to reflect that stepparents and adoptive parents of U.S. Citizens may potentially file self-petitions for protection and deferred status as an “abused parent.” Interested parties should consult the August 30, 2011 Memo or the Adjudicator’s Field Manual. However, one of the highlights is that a stepparent of an abusive US Citizen son or daughter may file a VAWA (Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005) self petition so long as three conditions are met:1) the abusive US Citizen son or daughter had not reached the age of eighteen at the time of the marriage which created the step-parent relationship2) the step-parent relationship existed, by law, at the time of the abuse; and3) the step-relationship existed by law, or as a matter of fact, at the time of filing of the VAWA self petition. See Section 21.5 of the Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM).

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