Last reviewed September 6, 2026
Overview: T nonimmigrant status is protection for certain victims of severe human trafficking who meet the physical-presence, cooperation or exception, hardship and admissibility requirements. Trafficking can occur within the United States; crossing a border is not required.
Trafficking and eligibility requirements
Severe trafficking includes qualifying labor obtained through force, fraud or coercion for involuntary servitude, debt bondage, peonage or slavery, and qualifying commercial sex trafficking. For a commercial sex act involving a person under 18, proof of force, fraud or coercion is not required under the trafficking definition.
Smuggling and trafficking are different, although a person can experience both. Unpaid wages or a bad employment relationship do not automatically prove severe trafficking. The actual recruitment, threats, control, exploitation and inability to leave are relevant to that distinction.
The applicant generally must be physically present in the United States or another qualifying location on account of trafficking, have complied with reasonable law-enforcement assistance requests unless an age or trauma exception applies, and show extreme hardship involving unusual and severe harm if removed. Admissibility and any available waiver require separate review.
Evidence and personal statement
The applicant’s statement explains the events, timing, people involved, end of exploitation, connection to current physical presence, cooperation or an exception, and feared harm on removal. Trauma can affect memory; gaps and uncertainty can be explained without inventing precise details.
Supporting evidence may include communications, contracts, wage records, medical or counseling information, witness statements and service-provider records. A law-enforcement declaration on I-914 Supplement B can help, but unlike the required certification in a U case, it is not mandatory for every T application. USCIS makes the eligibility decision.
Application steps
- Eligibility depends on the trafficking facts and statutory conditions. Victim services address support and safety needs separately from USCIS adjudication.
- The application uses I-914, a statement and supporting evidence, plus any necessary waiver request.
- Eligible family requests use the appropriate supplements and relationship evidence.
- Biometrics and responses to USCIS requests form part of processing, including protected contact procedures where applicable.
- Approval establishes the granted status period. Employment documentation and later adjustment have separate rules.
The 2024 T rule and subsequent guidance changed important eligibility and processing details. Agency instructions describe the applicable procedures, including bona fide determinations. A filing or preliminary review does not guarantee final approval.
Work, family and duration
T-1 is generally granted for up to four years, with extensions in specified circumstances. Approved principal T status carries employment authorization; derivative work documentation has its own procedure. Interim deferred action or employment authorization may be available under applicable procedures, but is not automatic upon filing and is different from T status.
Family eligibility depends on the principal’s age and the relationship. A principal under 21 may request a spouse, children, parents and unmarried siblings under 18; an older principal generally may request a spouse and children. Separate retaliation-based provisions can cover additional qualifying relatives. The specific relationship and danger requirements limit which additional relatives qualify.
Permanent residence and travel
An eligible T nonimmigrant may seek a green card after the required continuous physical presence (generally three years or the qualifying investigation/prosecution period if shorter under the statute), plus good moral character and the other requirements. Cooperation, an applicable exception or the relevant hardship provisions must be assessed. Filing and status deadlines matter.
Travel can affect physical-presence requirements and admission. An approved case or pending travel application does not by itself establish permission to depart and return without immigration consequences.
Fee exemptions and waivers are form-specific and described in the agency instructions. Confidentiality protections and safe-address procedures do not guarantee that a filing will remain undiscovered in every practical circumstance.