Checklist: your declaration
Your declaration is your own account, in your own words, of the marriage, the abuse, and your life. In many cases it is the center of the record, because USCIS must consider any credible evidence. Write it with your lawyer, in pieces, when it is safe. If there is any criminal case, talk to your criminal lawyer before you write anything down.
Current as of October 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any change in the law.
Under INA 204(a)(1)(J) and 8 C.F.R. 204.2(c)(2)(i), USCIS must consider any credible evidence. Your own detailed account is evidence, and for many survivors it is most of the evidence there is. This checklist is the outline we use with clients. The full guide is writing your declaration.
Before you write anything
If you have been arrested or charged with anything, including on a complaint the abuser made, talk to your criminal lawyer first. Read arrested or charged. And write where the abuser cannot find it: not on a shared device, not in a shared account, not on paper left at home. See staying safe online.
What the declaration covers, in order
- About you. Where you are from, when and how you came to the United States, your family, your work.
- How you met. Where, when, who introduced you, what drew you to each other. This is the start of good faith.
- Why you married. The decision, the wedding, who was there, what you hoped for. See good faith marriage.
- Living together. Each address, roughly when, who else lived there. It must have been during the marriage; there is no minimum period (USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 3, Part D, ch. 2).
- When things changed. The first time you remember feeling afraid or controlled.
- The abuse. Specific incidents, and the pattern between them. See below.
- The effects. On your health, sleep, work, friendships, children.
- What you did, or could not do. Who you told, whether you called anyone, and if you did not, why not. Fear, language, the abuser's threats about immigration: all of that belongs here.
- Where things stand now. Whether you still live together, and anything about the children. You do not have to have left. See living with the abuser.
- Your character. Your work, your family, your community. If there is any arrest, your lawyer decides how it is addressed. See good moral character.
Writing about the abuse
The definition in 8 C.F.R. 204.2(c)(1)(vi) reaches violence and threats of violence, psychological and sexual abuse, and acts that are part of an overall pattern. Your account should show both the incidents and the pattern. See battery or extreme cruelty and abuse without violence.
- Pick the incidents you remember most clearly, the first, the worst, the most recent, and describe each: where, roughly when, what was said, what happened, who saw or heard, what you did after.
- Then describe the everyday pattern. Money, phones, documents, friends, family, threats about your status or the children. Control that happened every day matters as much as one event.
- Use the words that were used. Quote threats as closely as you remember them.
- Say what you do not remember. Gaps are normal. Do not fill them with guesses.
- Plain language is enough. You do not need legal words.
What to leave for your lawyer
- Which statute and classification apply to you.
- How to address any arrest, charge or immigration violation.
- Translation into English for filing.
- Matching your account to the other evidence, so dates and addresses line up. See the evidence checklist.
- The final signed version.
Taking care of yourself
Writing this is hard. Do it in short sessions. Stop when you need to. A counselor or advocate can sit with you. The National Domestic Violence Hotline answers at 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788. In Florida, the statewide Florida Domestic Violence Hotline answers at 1-800-500-1119. In danger now, call 911.
Read next: writing your declaration, the evidence checklist, evidence without documents, or the safe filing checklist.
Common questions
Does my declaration need dates for everything?
No. Give dates where you know them and approximate where you do not: a season, a year, before or after a move or a child's birthday. Say when you are estimating. An honest approximate date is better than a precise guess.
Can I write it in my own language?
Yes. Write in the language you think in. We arrange the English translation for filing.
What if I am charged with a crime against the abuser?
Stop and talk to your criminal lawyer first. A written account of the relationship can be used in a criminal case. Your immigration lawyer and your criminal lawyer should agree on timing and content before you write anything. Read the page on being arrested or charged.
The lawyers who will handle your case
One of them calls you back, privately, on your terms.
Talk to a lawyer privately. You decide how we reach you.
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.