Immigration Evaluation Glossary
Plain-English definitions of 35 terms you will encounter in immigration psychological evaluations — the clinical instruments used in testing, the legal standards that define each form of relief, the USCIS forms and EOIR forms involved, and the BIA precedent that shapes how cases are decided.
Each entry includes an authoritative source link where one exists. Terms link to fuller guides on this site where applicable.
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Clinical instruments and testing batteries
The standardized self-report and clinician-administered measures used in immigration psychological evaluations. Each instrument has its own validation history, scoring rubric, and use case.
PCL-5 — PTSD Checklist for DSM-5
A 20-item self-report measure assessing the 20 DSM-5 symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Free, public-domain instrument from the National Center for PTSD. A score of 33 or higher supports a probable PTSD diagnosis. Standard component of every immigration trauma evaluation in asylum, VAWA, U-visa, T-visa, and hardship waiver cases.
PHQ-9 — Patient Health Questionnaire-9
A 9-item self-report measure of major depressive disorder severity. Maps directly onto DSM-5-TR depression criteria. Score interpretation: 5-9 mild, 10-14 moderate, 15-19 moderately severe, 20-27 severe. Used in nearly every immigration evaluation alongside the PCL-5.
GAD-7 — Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale
A 7-item self-report screening for generalized anxiety disorder. Score interpretation: 5-9 mild, 10-14 moderate, 15-21 severe. Validated across populations and language groups. Commonly paired with the PCL-5 and PHQ-9 in trauma-exposed clients.
BDI-II — Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition
A 21-item self-report measure of depression severity in adolescents and adults. Items map onto DSM-5-TR major depressive episode criteria. Score interpretation: 0-13 minimal, 14-19 mild, 20-28 moderate, 29-63 severe. Proprietary instrument requiring purchased materials; we use it where its narrower scoring bands clinically distinguish a case better than the PHQ-9 alone.
MoCA — Montreal Cognitive Assessment
A 30-point cognitive screening tool used in N-648 disability waiver evaluations to document cognitive impairment that prevents English or civics learning. Cutoff: a score below 26 indicates mild cognitive impairment. Sensitive to mild dementia, intellectual disability, and severe depression with cognitive sequelae.
DES-II — Dissociative Experiences Scale, Second Version
A 28-item self-report measure of dissociative symptoms — depersonalization, derealization, and dissociative amnesia. Used in T-visa and trafficking evaluations to document psychological coercion and complex trauma. A score above 30 suggests significant dissociative pathology.
SIMS — Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology
A 75-item screening for symptom over-reporting and feigning. Included selectively in immigration evaluations as a credibility-supportive measure when malingering is a foreseeable concern. Strengthens reports against credibility challenges from DHS counsel in asylum and other contested cases.
Diagnostic frameworks and conditions
The classification systems and clinical conditions that appear repeatedly in immigration evaluations.
DSM-5-TR — Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision
The American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic system used by U.S. clinicians and immigration courts. Released March 2022. All immigration evaluation diagnoses use DSM-5-TR criteria. Replaces DSM-5 (2013) — the text revision updates cultural formulation, prevalence data, and ICD-10-CM coding.
PTSD — Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
A trauma- and stressor-related disorder defined in DSM-5-TR by four symptom clusters: intrusion, avoidance, negative alterations in cognition or mood, and hyperarousal. Documented in immigration cases involving asylum, VAWA, U-visa, T-visa, and hardship waiver applications.
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
A DSM-5-TR mood disorder requiring five or more of nine symptoms (depressed mood, anhedonia, sleep disturbance, fatigue, etc.) for at least two weeks. Common in qualifying relatives for hardship waivers and in cancellation of removal cases. Documented via PHQ-9, BDI-II, and structured clinical interview.
Complex PTSD (C-PTSD)
An ICD-11 diagnostic category recognizing prolonged, repeated trauma — intimate partner violence, trafficking, prolonged captivity — that produces all PTSD symptoms plus disturbances in self-organization. Frequently invoked in VAWA, T-visa, and asylum evaluations involving long-term coercive control.
Forms of immigration relief
The major statutory categories that allow noncitizens to remain in the United States or adjust status. Each has distinct eligibility requirements, evidentiary burdens, and adjudicatory pathways.
VAWA — Violence Against Women Act
Federal law that allows abused spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens or LPRs to self-petition for permanent residence under INA 204(a)(1)(A)(iii) without the abuser's knowledge. Confidential by statute (8 U.S.C. § 1367). Despite the name, VAWA protections apply to victims of any gender. See our VAWA evaluation service and VAWA evidence guide.
U-Visa — U Nonimmigrant Status
A nonimmigrant visa for victims of qualifying criminal activity who suffered substantial physical or mental abuse and have cooperated with law enforcement. Capped at 10,000 principal grants per year, with a 416,000-petition backlog as of 2026. Path to a green card after three years of U status. See our U-visa evaluation service and U-visa evaluation guide.
T-Visa — T Nonimmigrant Status
A nonimmigrant visa for victims of severe forms of human trafficking who comply with reasonable law enforcement requests (with broad exceptions). Documents psychological coercion under 22 U.S.C. § 7102. Capped at 5,000 principal grants per year. Path to a green card after three years. See our T-visa evaluation service.
Form I-601 — Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility
USCIS form filed by inadmissible aliens applying for adjustment of status, immigrant visas, or other benefits to waive specific grounds of inadmissibility — including unlawful presence, fraud, or certain criminal grounds. Requires a U.S. citizen or LPR qualifying relative.
Form I-601A — Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver
USCIS form for the provisional unlawful presence waiver, available to certain immigrant-visa applicants in the U.S. before they leave for a consular interview. Reduces family separation. Qualifying relative must be a U.S. citizen or LPR spouse or parent — children do not qualify regardless of age. See our hardship letter guide.
Form EOIR-42B — Application for Cancellation of Removal — Non-LPR
Application for cancellation of removal under INA 240A(b), filed with the immigration court (not USCIS) during removal proceedings. Requires 10 years of continuous physical presence, good moral character, no disqualifying offenses, and exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to a qualifying U.S. citizen or LPR spouse, parent, or child. See our cancellation of removal guide.
Form EOIR-42A — Application for Cancellation of Removal — LPR
Application for cancellation of removal under INA 240A(a), available to lawful permanent residents who have held LPR status for at least 5 years, have continuously resided in the U.S. for 7 years after lawful admission, and have not been convicted of an aggravated felony.
Form N-648 — Medical Certification for Disability Exceptions
USCIS form completed by a medical or osteopathic doctor or licensed clinical psychologist to certify that a naturalization applicant has a physical or developmental disability or mental impairment preventing them from meeting the English or civics requirements of N-400 naturalization. Only MDs, DOs, or PsyDs/PhDs may sign per 8 CFR 312.2(b)(2). See our N-648 evaluation service and N-648 guide.
SIJS — Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
Immigration relief for noncitizen children under 21 who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned by one or both parents. Requires a state-court predicate order — in California, often issued through dependency, probate guardianship, or family court — before USCIS adjudication. See our SIJS evaluation guide.
CHNV Parole — Cuban-Haitian-Nicaraguan-Venezuelan Parole
A categorical humanitarian parole program for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela with a U.S.-based supporter. Approximately 532,000 parolees were admitted before the program was terminated by DHS on March 25, 2025 (90 FR 13611). Now subject to extensive federal litigation. See our CHNV parole guide.
Legal standards and BIA precedent
The judicially developed legal standards that govern eligibility for each form of relief — and the Board of Immigration Appeals decisions that operationalize them.
Matter of Cervantes-Gonzalez — BIA 1999 (Cervantes-Gonzalez factors)
A 1999 Board of Immigration Appeals decision (22 I&N Dec. 560) establishing the five factors USCIS uses to evaluate extreme hardship in I-601/I-601A waivers: family ties in the U.S., country conditions, financial impact, health and medical access, and disruption to education and community. The five-factor analysis remains the backbone of every modern hardship waiver case.
Matter of M-A-M- — BIA 2011 (competency standard)
A 2011 BIA decision (25 I&N Dec. 474) establishing the procedural standard immigration judges use to assess respondent competency. When indicia of incompetency are present, the judge must consider whether respondent can perceive proceedings, understand them, exercise rational judgment, and respond to evidence — and provide procedural safeguards if competency is lacking. See our competency evaluation service.
Franco-Gonzalez v. Holder — E.D. Cal. 2014 (Franco class)
A 2014 settlement (Franco-Gonzalez v. Holder, E.D. Cal.) requiring DHS to provide qualified representation for detained respondents in California, Arizona, and Washington with serious mental disorders preventing them from meaningfully representing themselves in removal proceedings. Class membership triggers appointed counsel and other safeguards beyond what M-A-M- alone provides.
Matter of Castillo-Perez — A.G. 2019 (DUI presumption)
A 2019 Attorney General decision (27 I&N Dec. 664) establishing a rebuttable presumption that two or more DUI convictions during the relevant good moral character period defeat eligibility for cancellation of removal. The standard is rehabilitation as "aberration," not mere completion of treatment. See our criminal convictions guide.
Well-founded fear of persecution
The asylum eligibility standard under INA 101(a)(42)(A) — a fear of future persecution that is both subjectively genuine and objectively reasonable. The objective component can be satisfied by showing as little as a 10% probability of persecution upon return (INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421). A psychological evaluation documents the subjective component.
Extreme hardship
The hardship standard for I-601 and I-601A waivers — hardship to a qualifying U.S. citizen or LPR spouse or parent that is substantially beyond what every separated family experiences. Evaluated under the five Cervantes-Gonzalez factors with both separation and relocation scenarios. Documented in our hardship letter guide.
Exceptional and extremely unusual hardship
The hardship standard for non-LPR cancellation of removal under INA 240A(b)(1)(D) — substantially different from or beyond the hardship typically experienced in deportation cases. A higher bar than I-601 extreme hardship. Defined in Matter of Monreal-Aguinaga (2001) and tightened in subsequent BIA decisions through 2026.
Stop-time rule — INA 240A(d)(1)
The rule that ends accumulation of physical presence (for cancellation purposes) at the earlier of two events: service of a legally sufficient Notice to Appear, or commission of a covered offense that makes the noncitizen inadmissible or removable. Substantially reshaped by Pereira v. Sessions (2018) and Niz-Chavez v. Garland (2021).
Notice to Appear (NTA) — Form I-862
The charging document that initiates removal proceedings under INA 239. Must contain specific elements (charges, time, place of hearing) to legally trigger the stop-time rule. Defective NTAs missing time or place are insufficient under Pereira v. Sessions and Niz-Chavez v. Garland — a doctrine that has restored cancellation eligibility for many respondents whose presence clocks were previously thought to be stopped.
Federal agencies, courts, and the legal framework
The institutional structure that adjudicates immigration cases — and the primary legal sources every practitioner cites.
BIA — Board of Immigration Appeals
The highest administrative body interpreting and applying immigration laws. Reviews appeals from immigration judge decisions. Published BIA decisions ("Matter of" cases) are binding precedent on all immigration judges nationwide unless overruled by an Attorney General decision or federal appellate court.
EOIR — Executive Office for Immigration Review
The Department of Justice agency that administers immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals. Publishes the EOIR Practice Manual, Operating Policies and Procedures Memoranda (OPPMs), and immigration court statistics.
INA — Immigration and Nationality Act
The principal federal statute governing U.S. immigration law, codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq. All forms of immigration relief — asylum, cancellation, waivers, naturalization — derive from specific INA sections. Frequently amended; current text available at law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8.
CFR — Code of Federal Regulations
The codified general and permanent rules published by federal agencies. Title 8 CFR contains immigration regulations. Section references like 8 CFR 312.2(b)(2) (Form N-648 signing authority) or 8 CFR 214.14 (U-visa) define operational rules USCIS officers and immigration judges follow.
Forensic psychological evaluation
A psychological assessment conducted for legal rather than clinical purposes. The evaluator applies clinical methods — interview, history-taking, validated testing, mental status examination — to address legal questions (asylum credibility, hardship severity, competency to proceed, etc.) and writes a report addressed to the immigration court or USCIS officer rather than for treatment planning. All immigration psychological evaluations are forensic by purpose.
This glossary is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal or clinical advice. Legal standards change as Congress amends the INA and as the BIA and federal courts issue new decisions. Verify any term you intend to rely on for a specific case with current authority. For psychological evaluations, contact a licensed clinical psychologist directly.