Understanding Immigration Evaluations
What Is An Immigration Evaluation?
An immigration evaluation, also known as an immigration psychological evaluation or hardship evaluation, is an assessment conducted by a licensed clinician to explain the mental health state of an individual in an immigration case.
Generally, definitions for immigration evaluations vary and tend to be bucketed to mean some component of a psychosocial, psychological / mental health evaluation. That said, immigration evaluations do come in various types and can be conducted by a licensed social worker, mental health counselor or psychologist.
What Are Immigration Evaluations Used For?
Mental health / psychological evaluations are routinely used to support immigration cases. They are helpful for proving extreme hardship or the emotional effect of being the victim of a crime which can be substantiated in court in support of an immigration petition.
Immigration Evaluation Categories
Immigration evaluations can mainly be broken down into two parts: trauma related and non-trauma related.
Examples of trauma related cases are U-Visa, T-Visa, VAWA, and asylum. Non trauma related cases are I-601 and cancellation of removal. The biggest difference between the two types of evaluations and their subparts is that one segment highlights more of a trauma than the other.
Types of Immigration Waivers
Mental health / psychological assessments are used in various types of immigration cases. Here are some of the most common ones:
U Visa - U visa gives undocumented immigrants who have been victims of a serious crime the right to live in the United States. Psychological evaluations can help u visa petitioners prove the mental and emotional consequences of the crime.
T Visa - A visa provides victims of human trafficking with the right to live and work in the U.S. A psychological evaluation can help an immigration court understand how human trafficking affected the petitioner emotionally.
Asylum - Political asylum is given to undocumented immigrants who are forced to flee their country as a political refugee. Immigration mental health evaluations can help asylum seekers show evidence of persecution in their home country.
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.
Extreme Hardship - Psychological evaluations can be used to show that deportation would cause extreme hardship to qualifying family members, such as U.S. citizen children.
Cancellation of Removal - A psychological evaluation can be used to help support a deportation cancellation of removal order.
Are immigration psychological evaluations and mental health evaluations the same thing?
Immigration psychological evaluations and immigration mental health evaluations are roughly understood to mean the same thing by individuals outside of the clinician purview, but there are differences.
Psychological evaluations for immigration involve something that’s a little different than a mental health evaluation, in that psychologists can perform tests that measure neurological functions. While these psychological evaluations are most appropriate when there are issues such as learning or cognitive delays, or if an applicant needs to be diagnosed for autism, for example, these tests can be inconsequential to the common needs of an applicant filing for a petition (VAWA and U-Visa, being some common examples). In the majority of cases, immigrants seek out evaluations for VAWA, U-Visa, T-Visa, asylum, or cancellation of removal, not learning or cognitive delays. Yes, these kinds of psychometric evaluations (even IQ testing) can certainly be included in a hardship evaluation, but typically they aren’t. Moreover, only a psychologist can help do what is called a “naturalization waiver.” This is for someone who is applying for a legal permanent resident or citizenship but because the applicant is unable to take a naturalization test due to an intellectual disability, the evaluation would have to be performed by a psychologist or medical doctor.
Mental health counselors can be most appropriate when screening for trauma, emotional difficulties, and extreme hardships. Mental health counselors 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. Mental health counselors diagnose mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other traumatic symptoms, which can be used as supportive evidence for an immigration petition.
In all, immigration psychological evaluations and mental health evaluations can both evaluate mental health symptoms within the scope of an immigration evaluation and prove these symptoms in the reports that they document, the difference being that psychological evaluations can utilize additional testing, if necessary.
Choosing The Right Therapist
In addition to choosing an immigration mental health examination for your case, you should also make sure that you choose a therapist who is experienced in providing psychological / mental health assessments.
It is important to feel understood during the evaluation. Therefore, choose a mental health counselor who speaks the same language as you do and has extensive experience working with immigrants from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. It is also important to select a therapist who has experience in trauma and domestic violence. This can help you or your family member feel safe enough to talk about issues like violence and trauma.
In summary
There are a variety of petitions you can apply for. That said, we encourage that you navigate this process with your legal representative to get the best outcome that is unique to your case.
If there are some concerns or questions you have around some of the details we covered in this article, you may contact Dr Ramos at any time for additional information.
