Individual & Couples Counseling In Denison, TX

Immigration Evaluations

“A PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION IS AN IMPORTANT PART TO YOUR IMMIGRATION CASE AS IMMIGRATION APPLICATIONS WITH EXPERT PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATIONS ARE MORE FREQUENTLY SUCCESSFUL.”

We conduct evaluations in person or via video counseling for the following types of immigration waivers:

EXTREME / EXCEPTIONAL HARDSHIP

In this type of immigration waiver the legal US citizen (spouse, fiancée, parent, child or ‘green card’ holder) would suffer ‘exceptional hardship’ if you had to return to your home country for two years, OR if the legal U.S. citizen left the U.S. to stay with you in your country. Other viable types of exceptional hardship can be psychological, social, cultural, economic, educational, career-related, political, religious, or due to compulsory military service, or medical. Or there may be a business in the U.S. that would fail if you were not present, or your dependent family might not be able to pursue their profession if they were to follow you home.

Goal of Evaluation: We conduct an evaluation to assess and understand any and all hardships that any and all relevant family members would face if the waiver were not granted. More specifically, the information obtained in this evaluation is used to answer two main questions:

  1. Would deportation of the immigrant pose an extreme and unusual hardship to the relative in question?
  2. Would it be an extreme and unusual hardship for the lawful-resident relative to accompany the immigrant back to his or her home country in case they are deported?

The professional opinion rendered in a psychological evaluation greatly strengthens the case, and without it, you would have to explain the hardship in your own words.

SPOUSAL ABUSE: VAWA (VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT)

Despite the name of this act, the VAWA waiver includes women and men. In spousal abuse cases, a person from a foreign country is married to a citizen or a legal permanent U.S. resident. After the marriage, the immigrant claims domestic abuse and seeks to file for legal status separately from their U.S. citizen spouse, usually because the U.S. citizen doesn’t wish to assist his/her spouse in this process. Even if the marriage ends in divorce, a VAWA petition can be filed, as long as there was a connection between the divorce and domestic violence and/or abuse. The abuse can take a variety of forms and must constitute extreme cruelty. “Extreme cruelty” includes, but is not limited to, verbal threats of violence, forceful detention, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, rape, molestation, incest (if the victim is a minor), and forced prostitution.

Goal of Evaluation: In these cases, we have to evaluate how extreme and prolonged the abuse was, the nature of the abuse, and how the abuse impacted you.

U VISA

U visa type of immigration waiver gives legal status to immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, who have been victims of serious crimes in the United States. Examples of some of these crimes include, but are not limited to, sexual abuse, domestic violence, involuntary servitude, sexual exploitation, kidnapping, trafficking, and rape. With a U visa, the immigrant may stay and work in the U.S for up to four years. After three years, however, a victim with a U visa may apply for a green card.

Goal of Evaluation: We will asess the extent of serious physical, mental, or emotional consequences of the experience. An applicant for a U-Visa has to be willing to assist the police and/or District Attorney’s Office in the investigation and/or with the prosecution of the criminal.

T VISA

T visa is a visa that may be issued to victims of severe forms of human trafficking, sex trade, or forced labor, who are present in the U.S. by way of such trafficking.

Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons, is a form of modern-day slavery in which traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to compel individuals to provide labor or services, including commercial sex. Traffickers often take advantage of vulnerable individuals, including those lacking lawful immigration status. T visas offer protection to victims and strengthen the ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute human trafficking.

Under federal law, a ”severe form of trafficking“ is:

  • Sex trafficking: When someone recruits, harbors, transports, provides, solicits, patronizes, or obtains a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act, where the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or the person being induced to perform such act is under 18 years of age; or
  • Labor trafficking: When someone recruits, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains a person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

Goal of Evaluation: Our goal is to assess the extent of serious physical, mental, or emotional consequences of the experience. An applicant for a T visa has to be willing to assist the police and/or District Attorney’s Office in the investigation and/or with the prosecution of the criminal.

POLITICAL ASYLUM

Applicants petitioning for political asylum type of immigration waiver often have been exposed to extreme deprivation, severe abuse, and possibly even torture in their home country. Frequently, these mistreatments are related to a political, religious, and/or ethnic persecution. Living your life in your home country becomes sufficiently intolerable or painful, that the individual flees his or her country to the United States and files a political asylum claim.

Goal of Evaluation: Our goal in asylum cases is to gather data about your mistreatment and to examine how being mistreated affected your life and the emotional impact it had on you. It is most common that anyone who is applying for asylum has developed psychological problems as a result of the abuse, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD), severe anxiety, and/or depression.

If your immigration case involves is political asylum, it is important to assess the extent and severity of your original trauma, whether you continue to suffer from psychological symptoms after your arrival in the U.S., and how long-lasting the residual effects are.

In addition to the legal aid you are receiving, an immigration evaluation therapist can help you communicate and document the mental health aspects of your case.

WHAT IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION?

A psychological evaluation does not mean you are crazy or that you have a mental illness, rather it is an opportunity that can allow you to get a hardship waiver.

A psychological evaluation is a meeting that is covered over two sessions. We require two sessions because we want to be as thorough as possible to give you the best chance with your case, and we have found that 1 session does not allow for enough time to do all the testing needed. We have also learned that several judges will delay cases because they want to see “emotional consistency” meaning they want to know how each person manages their emotions from week to week, so to avoid any delays we require the evaluation to be conducted over two sessions.

The first meeting lasts approximately 1.5-2 hours. During the first meeting an assessment will be conducted to assess emotional strengths and weaknesses, mental functioning, and learning about family history, and several diagnostic tests.

The 2nd meeting will occur 1 week later. It will last approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour, where a final interview will be conducted and a final diagnostic test will be administered.

After the final session, all the information we gathered will be collected and analyzed, and we will write up a 6-8 page document which includes detailed medical, emotional, and other relevant information as well as a diagnosis that is needed for the immigration application.

The document takes about 7-10 days to prepare.

WHAT ARE YOUR FEES FOR AN IMMIGRATION EVALUATION?

Our rate is $1500 flat. Because we know this cost is steep, we provide payment plans if needed. Should we have to testify in court our rate is $225/hr with a $1400 retainer that includes drive time, documentation preparation time, and time spent in court. Any remainder of the retainer not used will be refunded.If you need an expedited evaluation, an extra charge of $200 will apply.

HOW QUICKLY WILL I GET MY EVALUATION?

Most evaluations take 7-10 days to complete, however we do offer expedited evaluations for an extra fee of $200.

HOW DO I SCHEDULE AN IMMIGRATION EVALUATION?

Please contact us at 903-265-8545

Make An Appointment | Call Us: (903) 265-8545