How to Complete and File Form I-914, Supplement B: Trafficking Victim Declaration

Form I-914, Supplement B is a declaration signed by a law enforcement official confirming that you are a victim of a severe form of human trafficking and that you have cooperated with (or were not required to cooperate with) the investigation or prosecution. The applicant does not fill it out. The certifying official does, and you submit the signed declaration alongside your Form I-914, Application for T Nonimmigrant Status. USCIS does not require the declaration, but a signed one carries significant weight in the T-1 decision.¹ The real work for most survivors is convincing the right agency to sign.

Which Agencies Can Sign

The certifying agency must have responsibility for detecting, investigating, or prosecuting severe forms of trafficking. That covers federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, judges, labor agencies, children’s protective services, adult protective services, and any other authority with jurisdiction over trafficking cases.² Depending on your case, that could be a local police department, an FBI field office, a state attorney general’s office, or the Department of Labor.

The form itself asks the official to identify the agency type (federal, state, tribal, or local) and the certifying category (law enforcement, judge, prosecutor, or other). Both the certifying official and their supervisor must sign.³ No law compels any agency to sign, even when the victim has fully cooperated. The decision is entirely discretionary.¹

What the Official Has to Fill In

You will not complete the substantive sections yourself, but it helps to know what the official will be asked, because your request package should give them what they need to answer each part.

Part 1: Victim Information

Your full legal name, date of birth, and Alien Registration Number (A-Number) if one has been assigned. If you have no A-Number, that field stays blank.³

Part 2: Agency Information

The agency’s name and type, the official’s name and title, their division or office, and agency contact details.³

Part 3: Statement of Claim

This is the substantive core. The official describes the victimization, explains how it connects to the crime under investigation or prosecution, gives the dates the trafficking occurred, cites the statutes for the trafficking crimes, and notes when the investigation or prosecution began and, if applicable, ended.³

Part 4: Cooperation

The official picks one of five options describing your cooperation:

Has complied with requests for assistance.
Has failed to comply with requests for assistance (requires an explanation).
Has not been requested to assist.
Was under 18 at the time of the trafficking, which exempts the victim from the cooperation requirement entirely.⁴
Other (requires an explanation).

The official also notes whether you have expressed fear of retaliation or revenge if removed from the United States, and explains the basis for that fear. Part 7 gives extra space if any description runs long.³

Part 6: Attestation

The official signs under penalty of perjury, affirming that they believe you are or were a victim of a severe form of trafficking, that the information is true and correct, and that no promises were made about your ability to obtain immigration status based on the certification. They also commit to notifying USCIS if you later refuse to comply with reasonable assistance requests. The supervisor co-signs.³

How to Ask an Agency to Sign

Start by identifying which agency handled your trafficking investigation. If several were involved, target the one whose officials know your case and your cooperation best. Then build a request package that makes their job easy. A useful package generally includes:

A cover letter from you or your attorney explaining who you are, which investigation you were part of, and what you are asking the official to certify.
A pre-filled draft of Supplement B with Part 1 (your biographical information) already entered, so the official only fills in the agency and case details.
Supporting documents such as police reports, witness statements, or court records that corroborate your involvement in the investigation.

Agencies handle these requests differently. Some have a designated unit or liaison for immigration certifications; others route the request through leadership. Ask about the internal process before submitting. Responses can take weeks or months, and no agency is obligated to sign. If an attorney or victim advocate is helping you, having them make the initial contact often speeds things up, because agencies are more accustomed to working with legal representatives on these forms.

If You Cannot Get the Form Signed

A signed Supplement B is not a filing requirement. The regulation treats the declaration as optional evidence. If you file without one, include a written statement explaining why the certification does not exist or is unavailable and showing that you made good-faith attempts to obtain it.¹

USCIS reviews the totality of the evidence and makes its own eligibility determination.⁵ A signed declaration carries weight, but its absence is not automatically fatal, especially if you can show the agency refused to sign, failed to respond, or no longer exists.

Filing the Declaration With Your I-914

Supplement B is not filed on its own. It is bundled with the primary Form I-914 and mailed as a single package. There is no filing fee for Form I-914 or its supplements.⁶ The mailing address depends on where you live.

If you live in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, or Wyoming, use the USCIS Elgin Lockbox:

USPS: USCIS, Attn: I-914, P.O. Box 4221, Carol Stream, IL 60197-4221
FedEx/UPS/DHL: USCIS, Attn: I-914 (Box 4221), 2500 Westfield Drive, Elgin, IL 60124-7836

If you live in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, U.S. territories, or outside the United States, use the USCIS Phoenix Lockbox:

USPS: USCIS, Attn: I-914, P.O. Box 20200, Phoenix, AZ 85036-0200
FedEx/UPS/DHL: USCIS, Attn: I-914 (Box 20200), 2108 E. Elliot Rd., Tempe, AZ 85284-1806

⁶

USCIS issues a receipt notice once the package arrives.

What Happens After Filing

USCIS does not approve or deny in one step. It first conducts a bona fide determination (BFD), checking whether the application is complete on its face and whether initial background checks raise national security concerns. If the application passes BFD, USCIS may grant deferred action, which means it will not attempt to remove you while the case is pending, and may issue an employment authorization document (EAD) under the C40 category.⁷ Only applicants physically in the United States can receive deferred action and a BFD-stage EAD.

Federal law caps principal T-1 visas at 5,000 per fiscal year. Derivatives do not count against the cap.⁸ If the cap is reached and your application has passed BFD, USCIS places it on a waiting list and finishes adjudication once a visa is available.⁷ Once T-1 status is granted, the primary applicant’s EAD is issued under category A16, and T status lasts four years.⁹

1
Department of Labor. Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2011-1 – Addendum
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-914 Supplement B, Declaration for Trafficking Victim
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-914 Supplement B – Declaration for Trafficking Victim
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Victims of Human Trafficking: T Nonimmigrant Status
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. T Visa Law Enforcement Resource Guide
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-914, Application for T Nonimmigrant Status
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 6 – Bona Fide Determinations
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Characteristics of T Nonimmigrant Status (T Visa) Applicants
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. New Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Category for T Nonimmigrant Applicants