ROC under Waiver for Battery or Extreme Cruelty- Is Psy evaluation mandatory? Not Per USCIS Policy manual!

[AT20000 33]

I decided to create this thread because when I applied for a Fiancee Visa and then later when I was filing for ROC under extreme cruelty waiver, I was hammered by some members trying to shove down my throat a bunch of false information specifically when it goes to ROC under Extreme Cruelty I was forcefully and repeatedly told that "YOU HAVE TO HAVE a psych evaluation it is MANDATORY".  I remember thinking "How am I going to put together $3000 to get a psych eval when my abuser prevents me from working and from getting care, and will abuse me more if I ask him to help with the $3000 out of pocket to undergo a psych eval to prove his own abuses?"

I remember thinking: This makes no sense...

I was alone without the slightest family member or friend around me and this fake information- yes I said fake- made me feel even more trapped, more abused, and more desperate. It could have pushed me over the edge had I not been as resilient as I am. I am thankful that a local Domestic violence association referred me to a specific non-profit with immigration lawyers on staff who were helping immigrants with their filing (or filing for them if needed). I remember meeting with a brilliant immigration lawyer, Erika, to whom, desperate, I said "I am afraid this is a lost cause, I have no broken bone to qualify for Battery, and no psych evaluation to qualify for extreme cruelty and since it is mandatory..." 

Erika smiled and said "It is ABSOLUTELY NOT mandatory! If you have it, fine; but if you don't it is not mandatory at all". She directed me to the USCIS policy manual and there it was verbatim: "Evidence of battery or extreme cruelty may include, but is not limited to, reports and affidavits from police, judges, medical personnel, school officials, counselors, or the CPR. CPRs seeking a waiver due to battery or extreme cruelty are not required to submit a recommendation from a mental health professional"

And further: "Congress created the “any credible evidence” provision in recognition of the evidentiary challenges faced by abused spouses and children. An abused CPR may not have access to necessary evidence because the abusive spouse may control access to documents, or the abused CPR may have had to flee the abusive situation without being able to take important documents.

In recognition of these evidentiary challenges, officers cannot deny a case because the CPR spouse or child was unable to provide a particular piece of evidence or could not demonstrate the unavailability of primary or secondary evidence. Officers must consider whatever evidence is available, use agency records, and consider all evidence in the totality of the circumstances in the case. Therefore, when adjudicating a waiver based on battery or extreme cruelty, officers consider any credible evidence relevant to the waiver request submitted by the CPR"

 

Sure enough, in 7 weeks my Biometrics appointment was scheduled and 6 weeks later my ROC was approved without an interview and the filing fee was waived. When I saw Erika the next day, I told her how quick it had been, and to my surprise, she answered "You are not the quickest approval I have seen under this status"

 

I lately came back on here to update my timeline and here we go again, people were pounding on a desperate new member telling her that Psych eval was mandatory! When I jumped in to mention my experience (and that of my adult son) in support of this person, I was lectured on "Being humble"! Excuse me? So some are spreading falshoods and I should fall in line? That's not right! Not so much for me, I could not care less, but for members coming here for support.

 

So I think it is time we come together as a community and put a hard stop to false information and we should prevent people from revictimizing DV victims because this could push anyone over the edge and into taking desperate actions. OR we need to be more specific as to WHY USCIS required a Psych eval. In other words, there probably is a good reason why USCIS requested, if it ever happened, a psych eval and we need to be clear about this: Was the rest of the file weak in terms of other evidence?

What is your experience?

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-i-chapter-5#S-C-5

Edited 2 hours ago by AT20000
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