Immigration Evaluations
Types of Immigration Waivers
Mental health assessments are used in various types of immigration cases. Here are some of the most common ones:
U Visa - U visas give undocumented immigrants who have been victims of a serious crime the right to live in the United States. A mental health evaluations can help u visa petitioners prove the mental and emotional consequences of the crime.
T Visa - T visas provide victims of human trafficking with the right to live and work in the U.S. A mental health evaluation can help an immigration court understand how human trafficking affected the petitioner emotionally and psychologically.
Asylum - Political asylum is given to undocumented immigrants who are forced to flee their country as a political refugee. A mental health evaluations can help asylum seekers show evidence of persecution in their home country. Types of persecution may include but is not limited to: religious persecution, safety concerns over gender identity or sexual orientation, or political persecution.
Spousal Abuse (VAWA) - This petition allows spouses and children who are victims of domestic violence to obtain a green card. A mental health evaluation can help document the consequences of the abuse, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related problems or diagnoses.
Extreme Hardship - A mental evaluation can be used to show that deportation would cause extreme hardship to qualifying family members, such as U.S. citizen children or U.S. spouses.
Cancellation of Removal - A mental health evaluation can be used to help support a deportation cancellation of removal order.
Service Fees
Mental Health Immigration Evaluation (includes up to 4 clinical interviews, mental health evaluation, and expert report):
$1500 - One time fee.
Additional hours, amendments to completed paperwork:
$300 Hourly rate.
*Mental health assessments are not a requirement, but they can significantly impact your immigration case by presenting clear evidence and facts about your mental state. It is important to understand that our assessments and reports are objective, concise, and clinically based, and do not guarantee any citizenship case.
Mental Health Immigration Evaluations
An immigration evaluation, also known as an immigration psychological evaluation or immigration mental health evaluation, is a specialized clinical evaluation conducted by a mental health professional to support legal immigration claims by documenting psychological trauma, hardship, or incapacity.
These assessments, which are conducted by a licensed clinician (licensed clinical mental health counselor or licensed clinical social worker, or licensed psychologist) help to clincally explain the mental health state of an individual in an immigration case. Specifically, mental health evaluations consider the mental impact on a client based on extenuating circumstances such as financial or medical hardship, physical threat to life or safety, symptoms of psychological distress related to trauma.
What are mental health evaluations used for?
Mental health evaluations are routinely used to support immigration cases in a court of law. They are helpful for proving extreme hardship and/or the emotional effects of being the victim of a crime which can be substantiated in court in support of an immigration petition.
When screening for trauma, emotional difficulties, and extreme hardships, a mental health clinician will look at to what degree a victim could be impacted by a hardship and if they have any underlying mental health conditions as a result of the trauma, such as depression, anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD, and other traumatic symptoms, which can be used as supportive evidence for an immigration petition.
Mental health evaluations serve to evaluate mental health symptoms within the scope of an immigration evaluation and prove these symptoms in the reports that they document, and will utilize additional testing, if necessary. All information will be thoroughly assessed and documented in a full report.
Assessment Components & Process and What To Expect
During your mental health assessment you will meet with a licensed clinician who will conduct a bio-psychosocial assessment. This will include information about your developmental history, medical history, environmental history, and any mental health conditions or previous diagnoses you may have. The clinician may also assess for current diagnoses based on information provided in your history intake as well as current symptoms.
Assessment Components & Process and what to expect:
Clinical Interview(s): Sometimes multiple sessions, often lasting 4+ hours, covering social, psychological, and medical history.
Psychometric Testing: Questionnaires assessing anxiety, depression, PTSD, or cognitive functioning.
Documentation Review: Reviewing police reports, medical records, and legal files.
Collaboration: Consulting with your legal team (as necessary) for appropriate legal documentation preparation.
Expert Report: A 15-20 page report outlining the clinician’s findings and diagnoses.
