Comparing Immigration Relief Types: An 8-Type Comparison

For applicants and families

Start here: which path fits you?

Read each question below. Any question that fits your situation points to a guide worth reading, and many people fit more than one. An immigration attorney can tell you which paths apply to you.

None of these is the whole answer on its own. An immigration attorney can confirm which paths apply and handle the filing. But once you have worked through the six questions, you will at least know which guides to read and what kind of psychological evaluation fits.

The eight relief types side by side

The table below shows who each path is for, what is required, and what the evaluation costs. Each name links to a deeper service page.

Common pairs of paths and how to choose between them

Some situations look like they could fit two paths at once. Some of those pairings are below. Read whichever matches your situation.

Asylum vs. withholding of removal vs. CAT protection (all three protect from going home)

All three protect you from being sent back to a country where you would be hurt. The difference is how much fear you have to prove. Asylum needs a "well-founded fear" under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42)(A) and the Supreme Court held in INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca that even a one-in-ten chance of persecution can be enough. Withholding of removal raises that to "more likely than not", better than a fifty percent chance. Convention Against Torture (CAT) protection requires showing it is more likely than not you would be tortured by, at the instigation of, or with the consent or acquiescence of, a public official. Asylum carries the most benefits, including a path to a green card after time as an asylee and a way to bring a spouse and children. Withholding and CAT protection stop your removal to that country, but they do not lead to a green card. One asylum psychological evaluation can address all three at once.

VAWA vs. U-visa (when someone has been hurting you)

If someone in your family has been hurting you, VAWA may fit if the abuser is your U.S. citizen or green-card-holder spouse or parent, or your U.S. citizen son or daughter aged 21 or older. It has confidentiality protections (USCIS generally cannot disclose your case to your abuser under 8 U.S.C. 1367) and it leads toward a green card. If the person who hurt you is not one of those relatives but what happened counts as a qualifying crime, such as sexual assault, kidnapping or felonious assault, and you helped the police, this may point toward a U-visa instead. Some situations touch both; which to file, and when, is a question for an immigration attorney.

I-601 vs. I-601A hardship waiver (when you have a U.S. citizen spouse or parent)

Both waivers usually turn on whether a qualifying relative would suffer extreme hardship if you were refused. The difference is when and where you file. The I-601A is filed inside the United States before you leave for your visa interview abroad. It only forgives "unlawful presence": time in the U.S. after an authorized stay ended or without being admitted or paroled, not counting time the law leaves out (for example, time under 18). Your attorney calculates it. The I-601 is broader; it can forgive certain criminal records or fraud as well, and it is filed either inside the U.S. (with adjustment of status) or after the consular interview abroad. For someone whose only problem is unlawful presence, the I-601A lets them apply before leaving, so the family waits together in the U.S. For the unlawful-presence waiver, only a U.S. citizen or green-card-holder spouse or parent counts as the "qualifying relative," not a child; for some criminal grounds under the I-601 a son or daughter can also count. An immigration attorney can say which applies.

Cancellation of removal: 42A vs. 42B (you only file these in immigration court)

Cancellation is only available if you are already in removal proceedings, meaning you have been placed in immigration court. Form EOIR-42A is for green-card holders. You need to have held the green card for at least five years, lived continuously in the U.S. for seven years after being admitted in any status, and you cannot have an aggravated felony. Form EOIR-42B covers ordinary cancellation for people without green cards and a separate special rule for some abuse survivors, with different requirements; an immigration attorney identifies which applies. Ordinary 42B cancellation requires ten years of continuous physical presence, good moral character, no disqualifying convictions, and "exceptional and extremely unusual hardship" to your U.S. citizen or green-card-holder spouse, parent, or child under 8 U.S.C. 1229b. Both are filed in immigration court and decided by the immigration judge, not by USCIS.

U-visa vs. T-visa (both are for crime victims)

The U-visa covers victims of crimes on a list set by law, such as domestic violence, sexual assault, kidnapping, felonious assault and witness tampering. It requires a certifying official (for example police, a prosecutor, a judge, or an agency such as the Department of Labor) to sign a form stating that you have been, are being, or are likely to be helpful to the investigation or prosecution. The T-visa is specifically for survivors of human trafficking, when someone forced you into work or commercial sex through threats, lies, debt, or violence, or when anyone under 18 was used for commercial sex, even without force (22 U.S.C. 7102(11)). The T-visa does not require a signed law enforcement certification, but applicants generally must comply with reasonable requests from law enforcement for help with the investigation. That requirement does not apply to someone who was under 18 when the trafficking happened, or who cannot cooperate because of physical or psychological trauma (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 3, Part B, Ch. 2). Someone who survived a kidnapping or assault that was part of trafficking may fit both; which to file is a question for an immigration attorney.

N-648 vs. competency evaluation (when a medical condition affects citizenship or court)

These two paths sound alike but apply to very different situations. The N-648 disability waiver is for people who already have a green card and are applying for U.S. citizenship but cannot pass the English or civics test because of a medical or mental health condition (memory loss, intellectual disability, severe depression, dementia, autism, or others). A licensed medical doctor, doctor of osteopathy, or licensed clinical psychologist certifies Form N-648, and USCIS decides whether the form is sufficient to grant the exception; if it is not, the person may be asked to take the test. The competency evaluation is different. It is for people who are in immigration court facing deportation and have a mental health condition that makes it hard to understand the court or help their lawyer. The judge then decides whether safeguards are needed so the hearing is fair. The two forms apply to different statuses and serve different purposes, even though both involve a clinical signature.

Three composite examples

These are composite examples with made-up names, not real cases. Each one shows how one person's situation can touch more than one path.

What a psychological evaluation can document

If you have been through abuse, persecution, trafficking, or a serious crime, a psychological evaluation can document the clinical effects in a structured way. A licensed psychologist listens to the history you report, asks structured questions, uses validated measures, and writes a report describing your symptoms, clinical history, and diagnosis when supported.

A structured evaluation documents the clinical picture in writing using standardized, validated measures. That documentation can help an immigration attorney present mental-health and hardship information in asylum, hardship waiver, VAWA, U-visa, T-visa, and cancellation cases.

Frequently asked questions

• Asylum / withholding / CAT thresholds: Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) 101(a)(42)(A) (well-founded fear, a lower standard than "more likely than not," INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421 (1987)); INA 241(b)(3) ("more likely than not" for withholding); 8 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1208.16-18 for CAT.
• VAWA confidentiality: 8 U.S.C. § 1367 limits disclosure (with listed exceptions) and bars adverse admissibility or deportability determinations based solely on information from the abuser; USCIS narrowed its reading of these protections in December 2025. INA 204(a)(1)(A)(iii)/(B)(ii) and INA 204(a)(1)(A)(vii) (battered parents). See our VAWA evidence guide.
• I-601 / I-601A: Cervantes-Gonzalez five factors (22 I&N Dec. 560, BIA 1999); 8 CFR 212.7(e) for I-601A provisional waiver; qualifying relatives depend on the ground: a U.S. citizen or LPR spouse or parent for unlawful presence (INA 212(a)(9)(B)(v)) and fraud (INA 212(i)), and for a VAWA self-petitioner's fraud waiver also the self-petitioner's own hardship or a U.S. citizen, LPR or qualified-alien parent or child; a son or daughter can also qualify under INA 212(h)(1)(B). Request for Evidence (RFE) response deadlines are set by each notice, so read the date on yours.
• Cancellation 42A vs 42B: INA 240A(a) (LPR, 5/7/no agg. felony) vs. INA 240A(b)(1) (non-LPR, 10 years, good moral character (GMC), no disqualifying offenses, exceptional and extremely unusual hardship per Matter of Monreal-Aguinaga, 23 I&N Dec. 56, BIA 2001). Stop-time rule under INA 240A(d)(1) reshaped by Pereira v. Sessions, 138 S. Ct. 2105 (2018) and Niz-Chavez v. Garland, 141 S. Ct. 1474 (2021).
• U-visa / T-visa: 8 CFR 214.14 (U-visa); 22 U.S.C. § 7102(11) (severe forms of trafficking definition); 8 CFR 214.208(e) (trauma exception and under-18 exemption from the T-visa cooperation requirement, 2024 final rule). U-visa cap 10,000 principals/year, with pending petitions far above it (USCIS Form I-918 data); bona fide determination (BFD) Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and deferred action are discretionary (USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 3, Part C, Ch. 5).
• N-648: 8 CFR 312.2(b)(2), only MD, DO, or licensed clinical psychologist may sign. USCIS's 2025 N-648 policy update: Form N-648 generally filed with the N-400, multiple forms may draw further review, and the certifier must explain the nexus between the condition and the inability to meet the requirements. See our N-648 guide.
• Competency: Matter of M-A-M-, 25 I&N Dec. 474 (BIA 2011) procedural standard; Franco-Gonzalez v. Holder (C.D. Cal.; 2013 injunction, 2014 procedures order) for detained class members in CA, AZ, WA. What the evaluation covers (a structured competency interview and cognitive screening such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)) is on our competency evaluation service page.