The process of family-based immigration, in general, requires us citizens and legal permanent residents to submit a request to their immediate families are not citizens. Some petitioners could misuse the process of immigration to abuse their family members are not citizens amenazándoles to suspend or withdraw the request in order to control them, coaccionarlos or intimidate them.

With the approval of the Law on Violence Against Women act (VAWA) and its reauthorization later, Congress provided to non-citizens who have been mistreated or abused by your family a u.s. citizen or legal permanent resident with the ability to petition independently by themselves (autopeticionar) to a classification of immigrant without the knowledge, consent, or participation of the offender in the process of immigration. This allows victims to seek safety and independence from their abusers.

The spouses and children of u.s. citizens and legal permanent residents, as well as the parents of u.s. citizens who are 21 years of age or older, you can file a self-petition for immigrant classification with the USCIS. Generally, a non-citizen filing the self-petition is known as autopeticionario VAWA. If USCIS approves the self-petition, the autopeticionarios VAWA may seek to obtain legal permanent residency and obtain a permanent resident card (also known as Green Card or Green Card). This can be done through consular processing if the autopeticionario VAWA is outside of the united States, or to apply for adjustment of status if the autopeticionario is in united States.