The Violence Against Women Act authorizes immigrants to self-petition if they are a battered spouse married to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. This self-petition is much more commonly used by battered women but our client was a man who was abused by his U.S. citizen wife. We proved our client’s abuse by submitting a lengthy, chronological statement that set forth each instance of his emotional abuse during the marriage and provided evidence, including medical records and detailed statements of friends and family members who witnessed or were aware of various instances of the abuse. Our client’s I-1360 petition was successfully approved and he subsequently got approval on his I-485 Application for adjustment of status to that of a permanent resident.
