My abuser took my passport
Many abusers keep the passport, the green card papers or the birth certificate. That does not stop you from filing a VAWA self-petition. USCIS must consider any credible evidence under INA 204(a)(1)(J), and keeping your papers from you can itself be part of the abuse.
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 for anyone whose passport, visa, green card papers, birth certificate or marriage certificate is in the abuser's hands, locked away, hidden or destroyed. The short answer: that is a problem to solve, not a reason you cannot file.
The law on missing papers
USCIS must consider any credible evidence in a VAWA self-petition, under INA 204(a)(1)(J) and 8 C.F.R. 204.2(c)(2)(i). How much weight any piece gets is up to USCIS. The rule does not ask for one particular document.
So the question is never only "do I have the document?" It is "what else shows the same fact?" Your identity, your marriage, your shared home and the abuse can each be shown in more than one way. Our page on evidence without documents goes item by item.
One caution. Since December 22, 2025, under PA-2025-33, USCIS expects primary evidence of the marital relationship for a good-faith marriage, such as the marriage certificate and proof that all prior marriages ended, plus evidence that the relationship was real. If the abuser has your marriage certificate, a lawyer will look at how to get a new certified copy or what can stand in for it. See good-faith marriage.
The taking can be evidence
Under 8 C.F.R. 204.2(c)(1)(vi), battery or extreme cruelty includes forceful detention, psychological abuse, and acts that may not initially appear violent but are part of an overall pattern of violence. Holding a person's passport so they cannot travel, work or prove who they are is a way of keeping them in place.
Courts have recognized control over a person's immigration status as part of abuse. In Da Silva v. Attorney General, 948 F.3d 629 (3d Cir. 2020), not our client, the court described a citizen husband who refused to file immigration paperwork and used his wife's undocumented status as a method to control her. Put the taking of your papers in your declaration: what was taken, when, where it is kept, and what happened when you asked for it.
If the abuser once filed papers for you
Some abusers file an I-130 for their spouse and then withdraw it, or let it lapse, as a threat. If that happened to you, the priority date from that earlier I-130 can carry to your self-petition, under 8 C.F.R. 204.2(h)(2). You do not need the abuser's copy. Tell your lawyer whatever you remember: roughly when it was filed, where you lived, any notice you saw.
If you entered without a passport check
Some readers worry that a missing passport means a missing entry record. That is a separate question. A person with an approved VAWA self-petition may apply to adjust status even if they were not inspected and admitted or paroled, under the opening clause of INA 245(a). See VAWA and entry without inspection.
What we do not publish
We do not publish how to get a replacement passport from a consulate, because each country has its own rules and we have not verified them. Your country's consulate posts its own requirements. A lawyer can help you think about whether to ask for one now, and what that request might reveal.
Do not go back for papers without a plan
No document is worth your safety, and most can be replaced or proved another way. 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.
Start a safe copy file now
If you can reach any document safely, a photo of it stored where the abuser cannot see it is better than nothing. Our safe filing checklist covers where to keep copies and a safe mailing address. The VAWA I-360 has no government filing fee under 8 C.F.R. 106.2(a)(17)(ii), so money held by the abuser is not a bar to the petition itself.
For a private consultation, call (718) 484-7510.
Read next: documents the abuser took, evidence without documents, or any credible evidence.
Common questions
Can I file a VAWA self-petition without my passport?
A missing passport does not end a case. USCIS must consider any credible evidence under INA 204(a)(1)(J) and 8 C.F.R. 204.2(c)(2)(i), and decides how much weight to give it. What each form asks for is in its instructions, and a lawyer can work out what to use in place of what is missing.
Is taking my passport abuse?
It can be. Under 8 C.F.R. 204.2(c)(1)(vi), extreme cruelty includes forceful detention, psychological abuse, and acts that may not seem violent alone but are part of an overall pattern of violence. Whether it is in your case depends on the whole relationship.
Should I go back and take my passport?
Not without a safety plan made with an advocate. Tell your lawyer what is missing first.
The lawyers who will handle your case
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Tell us a safe number or email and a safe time, and whether we can leave a message. We never contact the person who hurt you, and we never call from a number or send anything that names this site. The first conversation is free and confidential, in English, Russian, Spanish or Uzbek, with a live interpreter for any other language.