What is a T visa and who counts as a trafficking survivor?

This page is general information, not legal advice. DNLH is not a law office or a hotline. A lawyer or DOJ accredited representative can tell you if your situation fits.

Is there protection for me?

Very possibly, yes. What happened to you has a name in the law, and there is a path through it.

The T visa protects people who were victims of a severe form of trafficking and who are in the U.S. because of it (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(T)). It does not matter whether you came with a visa or without papers. It does not matter whether you were paid something.

Who counts as a trafficking survivor?

Federal law defines two kinds of severe trafficking (22 U.S.C. 7102(11); 8 CFR 214.201):

1. Labor trafficking. Someone recruited, kept, moved or obtained you for work or services by using force, fraud or coercion, to hold you in:

• Involuntary servitude: you were made to believe that you or someone else would be seriously harmed or held if you stopped working. Threats to call immigration or police on you can count, because the rule includes abuse or threats of the legal process.
• Debt bondage: your work was "paying off" a debt that never really went down, or had no clear limits.
• Peonage: you were forced to work because of a real or claimed debt.
• Slavery.

2. Sex trafficking. Someone made you perform a commercial sex act (sex in exchange for anything of value) by force, fraud or coercion. If you were under 18, force, fraud or coercion is not needed. Any commercial sex act involving a minor counts.

Coercion in the rule includes threats of serious harm or restraint against you or anyone else, any plan to make you believe you would be harmed if you refused, and abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process.

Some signs that what happened may be trafficking:

• Your boss took your passport or ID
• You were told you owed a debt that kept growing
• You were threatened with deportation, arrest, or harm to your family
• You were locked in, watched, or not allowed to leave or talk to others
• The job was very different from what you were promised

The definition covers recruiting, keeping or obtaining a person. So you do not have to have been moved across a border. It can happen in a restaurant, a farm, a home, a factory, a salon or online.

What do I have to show for a T visa?

You must show four things (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(T)(i)):

1. You are or were a victim of a severe form of trafficking.
2. You are in the U.S. on account of the trafficking. This includes people still being trafficked, people freed by police, people who escaped, and people trafficked in the past whose presence now is directly related to it, no matter how long ago it happened (8 CFR 214.207). If you left the U.S. after the trafficking, special rules apply. Ask a lawyer.
3. You complied with any reasonable request for help from law enforcement, unless an exception applies (see below).
4. You would suffer extreme hardship involving unusual and severe harm if removed.

You must also be admissible, or get a waiver on Form I-192, which is free in T cases (8 CFR 106.3(b)(2)).

Do I have to work with police?

Some contact is needed, but less than many people think, and there are exceptions.

• At minimum, you must contact a law enforcement agency with authority over the trafficking and report it. One documented contact may be enough. It can be by phone, online or another way (8 CFR 214.208(b)).
• "Law enforcement" is broad. It includes police, prosecutors, judges, labor agencies, child and adult protective services, the U.S. Department of Labor, the EEOC and the National Labor Relations Board (8 CFR 214.201). It also lists ICE and CBP. Talk with a lawyer about which agency to contact, and ask whether a call to the trafficking hotline counts as this contact in your case.
• You only have to comply with reasonable requests. What is reasonable depends on the situation, including what you went through.
• Exceptions. If you were under 18 when at least one act of trafficking happened, you do not have to help. If physical or psychological trauma keeps you from helping, you do not have to (8 CFR 214.208).
• No signed police form is required. Supplement B is optional. You can send other evidence instead.

In California, an agency asked to sign a T visa Supplement B must act within 30 days, or 7 days if you are in removal proceedings, and it may not refuse just because the case is closed (Penal Code 679.11).

What do I get with a T visa?

• 4 years of T status and a work permit (USCIS)
• A green card path after 3 years of continuous presence, or sooner if the investigation or prosecution is complete, whichever comes first
• Family: you can apply for certain family members. Regardless of your age, that can include parents and siblings under 18 who are in present danger of retaliation. See Can my family get status through my T visa?
• Federal student aid: T visa holders are eligible. See Paying for college.
• No fees for the T application or most related forms through the green card. See Do I have to pay fees?

What happens while my T case is pending?

Since August 28, 2024, USCIS first checks whether your application is bona fide: properly filed and complete, with a signed personal statement and clean initial background checks (8 CFR 214.205). If it is, you can get deferred action and a work permit (category (c)(40)) while USCIS decides (USCIS).

Benefits like a refugee. Adults can become eligible for federal and state benefits and services to the same extent as a refugee once the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services certifies them. That requires being willing to assist law enforcement in every reasonable way (or unable to because of trauma), plus either a bona fide T application or "continued presence" granted by DHS for a prosecution (22 U.S.C. 7105(b)(1)). Children under 18 do not need that certification.

In California, the state's TCVAP program offers cash, food, medical and job help to eligible trafficking survivors working toward federal eligibility. It accepts a sworn statement or other evidence of trafficking plus a letter or T visa receipt. Apply at your county social services office.

Is it safe to apply?

There is real risk, and you deserve a straight answer.

• A pending application does not stop removal by itself. If you have a final deportation order, filing has no effect on DHS's power to carry it out, though you can ask for a stay (8 CFR 214.204).
• ICE policy changed in 2025. People with pending or approved T cases "may be subject to civil immigration enforcement" under ICE interim guidance 11005.4.
• Your information is protected. Federal law limits who can see your T case and bars decisions based only on information from your trafficker (8 U.S.C. 1367). See Will immigration share my abuse case with my abuser?

Get a full legal screening before you file. Also see Is it safe to apply for a U visa right now?, since many of the same 2025 changes apply.

What if I was forced to commit crimes?

In California, a trafficking survivor can ask a court to vacate a conviction for a nonviolent offense that was a direct result of being trafficked, at any time (Penal Code 236.14). See Survivors of trafficking and abuse: clearing convictions.

T visa or U visa?

Many trafficking survivors also qualify for a U visa, since trafficking is a U visa crime. The T visa does not require a signed police form, has its own green card timing, and has a separate yearly limit. A lawyer can tell you which fits, or whether to file both. Start with Immigration options for survivors.

What happened to me worksheet

Questions people ask

I was paid. Can it still be trafficking? Yes. Being paid something does not rule it out if force, fraud or coercion kept you working.

The person who trafficked me was my partner or a relative. Does that count? It can. The law looks at what was done, not who did it.

It happened years ago. Is it too late? The rule covers past trafficking when your presence now is directly related to it, regardless of how much time has passed.

Do I need a police report? No signed police form is required. You do need at least one documented contact reporting the trafficking to a law enforcement or labor agency, unless an exception applies.

Who can help?

Anywhere in the U.S.:

• National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-373-7888, or text 233733. 24/7, in more than 200 languages.
• Free or low cost legal help: the DOJ list of free legal service providers and the DOJ roster of recognized organizations and accredited representatives.

Bay Area (San Mateo and Santa Clara counties):

• CLSEPA: (650) 326-6440, 1861 Bay Road, East Palo Alto. Walk in Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For low income residents of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
• Bay Area Legal Aid: advice line 1-800-551-5554. T visas, U visas and VAWA for survivors.
• Tahirih Justice Center, Bay Area: 650-270-2100.

Contact them to confirm hours, languages and openings. Being listed here is not a referral or a promise of service. More options: Free legal help in the Bay Area.

If you are in danger right now, call 911. If you are thinking about suicide or are in emotional crisis, call or text 988.

What was done to you was wrong. Getting free is the hardest step, and you may have already taken it.