T Visa Adjustment Under INA §245(l)

When can a T-1 nonimmigrant adjust status?

See the Special Adjustment Categories hub.

The applicant must have been lawfully admitted as a T-1 nonimmigrant

The principal applicant generally must establish lawful admission to the United States in T-1 nonimmigrant status.

Evidence can include:

• Form I-797 granting T-1 status;
• Form I-94;
• Passport and visa records;
• Evidence of admission in T-1 classification after consular issuance; and
• Other USCIS or CBP records documenting the qualifying T admission.

The applicant must continue to hold T-1 status when filing

Under 8 C.F.R. §245.23(a), the principal generally must continue to hold T-1 nonimmigrant status at the time Form I-485 is filed.

Before filing, confirm:

• The T-1 approval date;
• The current T-status expiration date;
• Any extension approval;
• Any international travel affecting admission records;
• Whether T status has ever been revoked; and
• Whether the applicant already satisfies the physical-presence requirement.

A revoked T nonimmigrant status cannot support adjustment under the ordinary §245(l) procedure.

There are two possible physical-presence paths

A principal T-1 applicant can satisfy the physical-presence requirement through either of two statutory routes.

The statute uses whichever qualifying period is shorter.

Evidence when applying before three years

An applicant relying on completion of the investigation or prosecution before reaching three years must submit the required government documentation.

8 C.F.R. §245.23 requires a document signed by the Attorney General or designee attesting that the investigation or prosecution is complete.

The applicant should not assume that:

• Silence from law enforcement means the investigation is complete;
• A criminal conviction automatically supplies the necessary determination;
• A closed local police file is necessarily sufficient; or
• A personal declaration can replace the required government document.

International travel can break continuous physical presence

INA §245(l)(3) generally treats continuous physical presence as broken if the applicant departs:

• For any single period exceeding 90 days; or
• For periods exceeding 180 days in the aggregate.

The statute provides an exception when:

• The absence was necessary to assist the investigation or prosecution; or
• An official involved in the investigation or prosecution certifies that the absence was otherwise justified.

Physical presence in the CNMI can count

Current regulations contain a special rule for T nonimmigrants physically present in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

For a person granted T nonimmigrant status, qualifying physical presence in the CNMI after the T grant is treated as equivalent to physical presence in the United States pursuant to admission in T status for this adjustment calculation.

The applicant must be admissible or obtain a waiver

Unlike U adjustment, T adjustment generally requires the applicant to be admissible under the INA or to have obtained any necessary waiver from USCIS.

The review can involve:

• Criminal inadmissibility;
• Controlled substance grounds;
• Fraud or misrepresentation;
• Prior removal;
• Unlawful presence;
• False citizenship claims;
• Alien smuggling;
• Health-related grounds;
• Security grounds; and
• Other INA §212 provisions.

The existence and scope of any prior T-related waiver should be reviewed before adjustment.

Some grounds cannot be overcome through the T adjustment framework

Current regulations provide that a person is not eligible for T adjustment if the applicant is described in:

• INA §212(a)(3) — security and related grounds;
• INA §212(a)(10)(C) — international child abduction; or
• INA §212(a)(10)(E) — unlawful voting.

Other applicable grounds generally require a valid waiver where the law permits one.

A special unlawful-presence exception may apply

Current 8 C.F.R. §245.23 contains an important trafficking-based exception involving INA §212(a)(9)(B).

If the applicant establishes that the trafficking victimization was a central reason for the applicant's unlawful presence in the United States, §212(a)(9)(B)(iii) can make that unlawful-presence ground inapplicable without requiring a waiver.

The trafficking need not be the sole reason for the unlawful presence, but the connection must be more than:

• Tangential;
• Incidental; or
• Superficial.

The filing must include evidence establishing the required nexus.

T adjustment requires good moral character

A T-1 principal must establish good moral character from the first lawful admission in T-1 status through the date USCIS completes adjudication of Form I-485.

USCIS considers:

• INA §101(f);
• Criminal history;
• Conduct during the statutory period;
• The standards of the community;
• Evidence of rehabilitation;
• Police and criminal background records; and
• Other credible evidence concerning character.

See the next section of the T cluster for the detailed good-moral-character and cooperation framework.

Trafficking-related conduct can receive special good-moral-character treatment

INA §245(l)(6) authorizes DHS to waive consideration of a disqualification from good moral character when the disqualifying conduct was caused by or incident to the trafficking victimization.

This can be important where exploitation caused or directly contributed to:

• Criminal conduct;
• Prostitution-related activity;
• Immigration violations;
• False documents;
• Conduct compelled by traffickers; or
• Other acts that would otherwise negatively affect good moral character.

The principal generally must continue cooperating with reasonable requests

A T-1 principal generally must establish compliance with reasonable requests for assistance in the detection, investigation, or prosecution of trafficking from the first lawful T-1 admission through adjustment adjudication.

USCIS can evaluate:

• Whether law enforcement made a request;
• Whether the request was reasonable;
• The nature of the requested assistance;
• The applicant's response;
• Whether any noncompliance was justified; and
• Whether a statutory alternative to cooperation applies.

There are important alternatives to continued cooperation

Current 8 C.F.R. §245.23 recognizes several ways a T-1 principal can satisfy the adjustment requirement.

The applicant may qualify if the applicant:

• Complied with reasonable requests for assistance;
• Would suffer extreme hardship involving unusual and severe harm upon removal;
• Was younger than 18 when the qualifying trafficking victimization occurred; or
• Established inability to cooperate with a reasonable request when USCIS approved the T application under the applicable regulatory standard.

Extreme hardship involving unusual and severe harm

A T-1 principal can use the specialized extreme-hardship standard in lieu of demonstrating continued compliance with law-enforcement requests in qualifying circumstances.

USCIS evaluates the hardship case by case under the T regulations.

Evidence may address:

• Risk of retaliation by traffickers;
• Risk of re-trafficking;
• Trauma;
• Mental health;
• Medical needs;
• Availability of treatment abroad;
• Safety conditions;
• Stigma;
• Family separation;
• Access to justice;
• Country conditions; and
• Other consequences uniquely connected to the trafficking experience.

Derivative T family members have different adjustment requirements

A person lawfully admitted in derivative T nonimmigrant status can also seek permanent residence under the T adjustment regulation.

A derivative generally must establish:

• Lawful admission in derivative T status;
• Continued derivative T status at filing;
• A properly filed Form I-485;
• Admissibility or an applicable waiver; and
• That the T-1 principal has applied for adjustment and meets the principal eligibility requirements.

Derivative T nonimmigrants do not simply apply the principal T-1 requirements to themselves. See T Visa Derivative Adjustment for the separate T-2 through T-6 adjustment rules.

T derivatives do not automatically lose status when the principal adjusts

Current regulations expressly provide that a derivative family member does not automatically lose T nonimmigrant status merely because the T-1 principal becomes a lawful permanent resident.

This can permit the derivative's own adjustment process to continue after principal approval, assuming all other requirements remain satisfied.

Derivative applicants do not have the principal's three-year and GMC requirements

The current T-adjustment regulation separates principal and derivative eligibility.

The derivative provisions do not independently impose on the derivative:

• The principal's three-year or completed-investigation physical-presence requirement;
• The principal's good-moral-character requirement; or
• The principal's trafficking-investigation cooperation requirement.

The derivative must nevertheless satisfy the derivative-specific requirements, admissibility or waiver rules, and favorable discretion.

There is an annual 5,000 adjustment limit for T-1 principals

INA §245(l)(4) limits the number of principal T-1 applicants who may adjust under the provision to 5,000 per fiscal year.

The numerical limitation:

• Applies to principal T-1 adjustment applicants;
• Does not apply to qualifying derivative spouses, sons, daughters, siblings, or parents; and
• Can result in otherwise eligible principal applicants being placed on a waiting list.

Priority on the adjustment waiting list is generally based on the date the Form I-485 was properly filed, with older applications receiving higher priority.

The annual adjustment cap is different from the T-visa cap

There are two separate statutory numerical limitations involving T principals.

A person who already has T-1 status still must account for the separate adjustment-stage numerical limitation.

Adjustment remains discretionary

Every T adjustment applicant bears the burden of showing that USCIS should exercise discretion favorably.

Positive factors may include:

• Severity of trafficking victimization;
• Law-enforcement cooperation;
• Rehabilitation;
• Family ties;
• Caregiving responsibilities;
• Employment;
• Education;
• Community service;
• Medical and psychological needs;
• Length of residence;
• Tax compliance; and
• Other humanitarian equities.

Adverse factors should be addressed directly rather than assumed irrelevant because T status was previously granted.

Serious adverse factors can require unusually strong equities

Current regulations recognize that serious criminal or security-related conduct can require particularly compelling positive evidence.

USCIS may require a showing of exceptional and extremely unusual hardship in cases involving significant adverse factors.

Even that showing may be insufficient where the negative conduct is especially grave.

Examples expressly noted in the regulation include:

• Serious violent crime;
• Sexual abuse of a child;
• Multiple drug-related crimes;
• Security concerns; and
• Terrorism-related concerns.

USCIS adjudicates T adjustment

The T-adjustment regulation assigns USCIS responsibility for determining the principal's:

• Qualifying T admission;
• Continuing T status;
• Physical presence;
• Good moral character;
• Admissibility or waiver;
• Response to reasonable law-enforcement requests; and
• Overall adjustment eligibility.

USCIS also adjudicates derivative T adjustment applications.

Departure while Form I-485 is pending can cause abandonment

Under 8 C.F.R. §245.23(j), departure from the United States while a T-based adjustment application is pending generally causes abandonment.

An applicant who is not in exclusion, deportation, or removal proceedings may avoid abandonment where the applicant:

• Obtains advance parole through the appropriate USCIS procedure;
• Travels in accordance with that authorization; and
• Is inspected and paroled when returning.

Advance parole travel does not reset the T admission date

Current regulations specifically address a T nonimmigrant who travels on advance parole while the adjustment application is pending.

For purposes of the T adjustment regulation, the date of first lawful admission in T status remains the relevant admission date even if the return I-94 is annotated as parole.

This protects the continuity of the statutory adjustment calculation from being distorted merely by an authorized advance-parole trip.

Evidence checklist for a T-1 adjustment applicant

• Form I-485.
• Form I-797 granting T-1 status.
• Form I-94.
• Evidence of continuing T-1 status.
• Current passport.
• All passports covering the required physical-presence period.
• Continuous physical-presence evidence.
• Complete travel chronology.
• Government completion certification if filing before three years.
• Good-moral-character affidavit.
• Required police clearances or criminal background checks.
• Certified criminal dispositions where applicable.
• Evidence of compliance with reasonable law-enforcement requests or an applicable alternative.
• Extreme-hardship evidence where used.
• Prior waiver approvals.
• Any new waiver application required for adjustment.
• Evidence supporting favorable discretion.
• Medical examination documentation required by current Form I-485 instructions.

See Form I-485 Process.

Example: investigation ends before three years

Example: trafficking caused unlawful presence

Example: derivative applies after principal

T adjustment checklist

• Confirm lawful admission as a T-1 nonimmigrant.
• Confirm continuing T-1 status at filing.
• Determine whether the three-year or completed-investigation route applies.
• Calculate all travel during the physical-presence period.
• Check the 90-day and 180-day absence rules.
• Obtain any required certification for qualifying absences.
• Review inadmissibility.
• Confirm all necessary waivers remain valid or file any required waiver.
• Analyze the trafficking-based unlawful-presence exception.
• Establish good moral character.
• Analyze any trafficking-related GMC disqualification.
• Establish cooperation or a statutory alternative.
• Develop favorable discretionary factors.
• Evaluate the T-1 annual adjustment cap.
• Review derivative family members separately.
• Analyze travel and abandonment before any departure while Form I-485 is pending.

Common T adjustment mistakes

Primary authorities

Related INA245.com guides

Frequently asked questions