It can be awfully difficult to escape an abusive marriage. This will be even more true if you do not yet have a green card and you would be reliant on your spouse to get one.
Many women in this position opt to stay in the marriage, not wanting to jeopardize their chances of permanently remaining in the U.S. or the future prospects of any children they have. There is one particular law that could help if this is your situation.
The Violence Against Women Act
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is a law that can eliminate the need for a woman who wants to apply for a green card to stay in a relationship with their abuser in order to make the application. It gives qualifying women the right to apply on their own grounds (known as self-petitioning), without their abuser having to find out they are doing it.
Qualifying women can also apply for a green card for their children, provided those children are under 21 and unmarried.
How do you qualify?
To qualify, your abuser must be either a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident. They don’t actually have to be your spouse either. They could be your ex-spouse. You must have suffered battery or extreme cruelty at their hands and will have to produce evidence of this.
Note that the law can also permit parents or children of U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are abused by them to self-petition for a green card in a similar way.
Learning more about how self-petitioning would work can give you the confidence to take the next steps to better your situation – one of which might be filing for a divorce.
