Notice to Appear (NTAs) have been issued as a result of a T visa denial.  We have only heard of 3 or 4 cases, but we are trying to collect more information to be able to determine whether the NTAs were issued as a result of the recent NTA memo or for other causes. If you have received an NTA or have heard of colleagues, contact CAST through our online TA request form to report the NTA and receive additional technical assistance on next steps. 

• File out the online TA request form and be sure to include the following information:
  • When the original T visa was filed
  • What type of trafficking 
  • When the T visa was denied
  • When the NTA was issued and by whom.
  • Please also follow instructions to provide us a copy of the T Visa Denial Notice and NTAs

CAST is still seeing successful T visas being granted and denials of T visas being overturned on motions to re-open/reconsider and appeals.  We still believe that T visas should be filed for trafficking survivors, but do encourage additional initial considerations, FOIAs, and criminal liability checks before filing T visas.  See the following resources to strengthen your initial T visa application: 

• • T Visa Part 1 eLearning course for additional guidance on T visa eligibility requirements.
  • CAST T Visa Risk Assessment Tool
    • CAST has developed this T visa risk assessment tool to assist attorneys to strengthen their T visa applications and evaluate various considerations before filing.  The strength of a T visa case is not based on the amount of evidence that is in existence, as many trafficking survivors do not have any additional evidence.  Instead, the strength of a T visa case is based on the ability to clearly articulate the trafficking scheme to meet the federal definition of trafficking in persons and the T Visa requirements.
      
      

Suggestions to Prevent NTAs

• Make sure you are exhausting all administrative options. 
  • File motions to reconsider/reopen (MTR) to VSC to re-frame trafficking arguments and ensure all crucial evidence is included in the administrative record.
  • Pursue appeals to the AAO, if applicable
• Argue in the MTR and Appeals to preemptively request adjudicators to exercise prosecutorial discretion to not issue an NTA upon denial to protect the congressional intent to protect trafficking survivors and encourage reporting of trafficking.
• For sample positive discretion argument to be included in all initial T visas, RFE responses, and denial responses, click here.

For additional information about NTAs, see ASISTA NTA Annotated Notes.

See also the "Practice Update: Implementation of NTA memo on Survivor-Based Cases" - In May and June of 2019, some practitioners have reported that USCIS issued a number of NTAs in connection with denied U and T visa applications. Given these reports, ASISTA in conjunction with CAST, Freedom Network USA, American Association of Immigration Lawyers (AILA), Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles created a practice update to addresses some of the actions practitioners can take in individual cases as well as to support policy-level advocacy efforts.