Living together "during the marriage": what PA-2025-33 changed
USCIS Policy Alert PA-2025-33, issued December 22, 2025, says a VAWA self-petitioner must have lived with the abuser during the qualifying relationship. There is still no minimum period. The shared home does not have to have been in the United States if you are in the United States when you file.
Current as of October 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any change in the law.
This post is dated October 26, 2026. It is about a policy change that took effect on December 22, 2025, when USCIS issued Policy Alert PA-2025-33 and rewrote Volume 3, Part D of its Policy Manual, the chapters on VAWA self-petitions. The alert applies to petitions pending on that date and to petitions filed after it. One of its changes is about where and when you lived with the abuser.
The source is the USCIS policy alert itself, listed on the Policy Manual updates page. As we read that page on October 26, 2026, it showed no rescission and no court stay.
The rule before and after
A spouse filing a VAWA self-petition has to show they resided with the abuser. That element is in the statute, at INA 204(a)(1)(A)(iii)(II)(dd) for the spouse of a U.S. citizen and INA 204(a)(1)(B)(ii)(II)(dd) for the spouse of a permanent resident.
Before December 22, 2025, the Policy Manual described this as having resided with the abuser in the past. PA-2025-33 changed the wording: the self-petitioner must have resided with the abuser during the qualifying relationship. For a spouse, that means during the marriage.
In plain terms: you and the abuser must have lived together at some point while you were married. Living together only before the wedding, or only after the divorce, does not meet the rule on its own.
What did not change
- No minimum period. There is still no required length of time. The statute does not set one, and the Policy Manual at Volume 3, Part D, chapter 2(F) says so.
- Not only in the United States. The shared residence does not have to have been in the United States if you are in the United States when you file (Policy Manual, Volume 3, Part D, chapter 2(F), footnote 137).
- A visit is not a residence. The same part of the Policy Manual says a visit while you were living somewhere else does not count.
- Any credible evidence. USCIS must consider any credible evidence, and it decides how much weight to give it, under INA 204(a)(1)(J) and 8 C.F.R. 204.2(c)(2)(i).
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. 204.2(c)(1)(v) still has older text on residence. The Policy Manual treats that text as superseded by the statute. This site follows the statute and the Policy Manual.
What this means for your evidence
The question USCIS is now asking has two parts. Did you live together? And was it while you were married? Your evidence should answer both. Put the dates next to each other: the date of the marriage, and the dates you lived under one roof.
- Lease, deed or utility bill with both namesShows a shared address and the dates on it.If the abuser kept everything in their own name, mail addressed to you at that address, or a statement from a landlord or neighbor.
- School, medical or bank recordsShow your address during the marriage.Any record with a date and the address, even a pharmacy label or a delivery receipt.
- Your own declarationDescribes the home, the dates and daily life there.Under INA 204(a)(1)(J), your sworn account is evidence. The more specific it is about dates and places, the more it helps.
If the abuser took or destroyed the papers, see documents the abuser took. If the shared home was abroad, write that down too, with the city and the dates.
Same alert, other changes
PA-2025-33 also changed what USCIS expects to prove a good-faith marriage: primary evidence of the marital relationship, such as the marriage certificate and proof that all prior marriages ended, plus evidence that the relationship was real. See good-faith marriage.
If you are still living with the abuser
This post does not tell you to stay or to leave. Either choice can affect your safety and your case, and a safety plan is made with an advocate. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788. If you are in danger now, call 911. For the immigration side, a private consultation is at (718) 484-7510.
Read next: living with the abuser, any credible evidence, or spouse of a U.S. citizen.
Common questions
We only lived together for a few weeks. Is that enough?
The statute sets no minimum period of shared residence, under INA 204(a)(1)(A)(iii)(II)(dd) and (B)(ii)(II)(dd) and the Policy Manual at Volume 3, Part D, chapter 2. What PA-2025-33 adds is that the shared residence must have happened during the marriage. A short period can count. What you need is credible evidence that it happened.
We lived together before the wedding but not after. Does that count?
Under PA-2025-33 the shared residence must have happened during the qualifying relationship, which for a spouse means during the marriage. Time living together only before the wedding does not meet that rule by itself. Talk to a lawyer about the whole history before you decide anything.
Does it matter that we lived together in another country?
Not if you are in the United States when you file. Under the Policy Manual, Volume 3, Part D, chapter 2, the shared residence need not have been in the United States in that case.
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