Pathway

U.S. T Visa for Trafficking Survivors

United States Residency

Last updated August 17, 2026

Pathway overview

At a glance

The T visa is a protection route for certain survivors of severe human trafficking who are in the United States because of trafficking and meet cooperation or exception rules.

Type: Humanitarian protection
Fit: Certain trafficking survivors in the United States
Core requirements: Severe trafficking, presence because of trafficking, cooperation or exception, and admissibility
What to know: Sensitive route; trauma-informed legal support is important
What it gives: T-1 status is generally granted for up to four years, with limited extensions.
Main limit: This is not a general hardship or crime-victim route.

Summary

T nonimmigrant status protects certain survivors of a severe form of human trafficking. It can cover sex trafficking involving force, fraud, or coercion (or a person under 18 induced into a commercial sex act), and labor trafficking involving force, fraud, or coercion for involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

The case must connect the applicant's U.S. presence to trafficking. Trauma-informed legal and victim-services support is strongly recommended.

Eligibility

A principal applicant generally must show:

They are or were a victim of a severe form of trafficking;
They are physically present in the United States, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, or at a port of entry because of trafficking;
They complied with reasonable law-enforcement requests, unless they were under 18 when at least one trafficking act occurred or cannot cooperate because of physical or psychological trauma;
Removal would cause extreme hardship involving unusual and severe harm; and
They are admissible or receive an available waiver.

A law-enforcement declaration can be useful, but unlike a U visa certification, it is not an absolute filing requirement. Other credible evidence may establish cooperation or an exception.

What This Route Allows

T-1 status is generally granted for up to four years, with limited extensions. A T-1 principal is employment-authorized because of status. Certain qualifying family members may receive derivative T status; the available relatives depend partly on the principal's age and retaliation risks.

A T-1 holder may later apply for permanent residence after the required continuous physical presence—generally three years after admission as a T nonimmigrant or the period until the trafficking investigation or prosecution is complete, whichever is shorter—and after meeting cooperation, character, admissibility, and other requirements.

What This Route Is Not

This is not a general hardship or crime-victim route. Exploitative work alone does not automatically satisfy the statutory trafficking definition. Approval is also subject to an annual statutory cap for principal T-1 grants, although derivatives do not count against it.

No one should contact a trafficker or unsafe person simply to collect evidence.

Next Steps

Contact a trafficking-experienced immigration lawyer, DOJ-accredited representative, or victim-services provider using a safe device and address.
Preserve identity, travel, recruitment, work, payment, threat, medical, counseling, and law-enforcement records safely.
Map how trafficking caused the person's presence at the qualifying location.
Review cooperation facts, trauma or age exceptions, hardship on removal, and waiver needs.
Use the current Form I-914 instructions; USCIS substantially revised T rules effective August 28, 2024.

U.S. T Visa for Trafficking Survivors

At a glance

Summary

Eligibility

What This Route Allows

What This Route Is Not

Next Steps

Related pathways

UK British National Overseas Visa

UK Immigration Status Through Windrush

New Zealand Refugee Family Resident Visa

Sources