Immigration Evaluations

A typical immigration evaluation includes an interview with you and close members of your family. The interview will help us understand important psychological, medical, and social background information, and your current level of cognitive and psychological functioning.

A psychological evaluation can be helpful in highlighting the specific hardship issues related to your legal case. It is also not uncommon for individuals to develop depressive disorders or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of their experiences.  A psychological evaluation will establish the mental health consequences of the physical, emotional, financial, or sexual abuse that has been endured.

Extreme Psychological Hardship

In an extreme psychological hardship case, a citizen or resident of the United States applies for the immigration waiver because the deportation of a family member will cause extreme hardship for themselves or their family.

It’s important to remember that that deportation will cause hardship to the family (e.g. spouse, children, or parents) rather than to the individual that may be deported.

The negative impacts of deportation such as job loss or separation of parents from small children are considered “typical” hardships in the eyes of the court.

The court considers a hardship to be “extreme” only if the impact on the family is unusual or beyond what would be normally expected from deportation.

Here are some examples of situations that are considered “extreme”:

– A family member has a major medical issue and can’t safely travel abroad, making it necessary for the individual to remain in the U.S. to care for the family member.

– An individual’s parents are aging and require the person to stay in the U.S. to care for them.

– An individual is a primary breadwinner in the family and their deportation will cause extreme financial hardship for the family.

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) provides for immigration benefits to men and women who have been physically and/or mentally abused by their U.S. citizen spouse.

If an individual is undocumented, married to a U.S. citizen, and they are victims of domestic abuse, they may be eligible for permanent residency in the U.S.

A psychological evaluation will help establish the psychological impact that the verbal, physical, or sexual abuse had on the individual.

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

A U-Visa may be granted to an undocumented individual living in the U.S. if the individual can demonstrate that they have experienced substantial mental or physical abuse due to being a victim of a serious crime that occurred in the U.S.

Examples of serious crimes include, but are not limited to the following: domestic violence, sexual abuse, rape, murder, torture, kidnapping, and stalking.

The individual must also be willing to help law enforcement and provide information that assists with the prosecution of the individual that committed the crime.

It is not uncommon for victims to develop a depressive disorder or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. A psychological evaluation can help establish how the crime mentally impacted an individual.

Our goal is to assist attorneys in being the voice for our clients, through our evaluations. It is our priority to conduct evaluations that are detailed, organized, and thorough. Si se necesita traducción, tenemos servicios de interpretación disponibles para clientes de habla hispana.

*Immigration Evaluations are not covered by insurance and is self-pay only.