The Violent Crime Control Act of 1994 amended the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a new "S" nonimmigrant visa classification. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(S).

This classification is available to a limited number of aliens who supply critical reliable information necessary to the successful investigation and/or prosecution of a criminal organization, or who supply or critical reliable information concerning a terrorist organization, if the alien is eligible to receive a State Department reward under the Rewards for Justice Program. Id.; see also 22 U.S.C. § 2708. The statute permits the aliens selected for the program, and eligible family members, to be admitted to the United States in a temporary nonimmigrant status for up to three years, see 8 U.S.C. § 1184(k)(3), and authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to waive most grounds of inadmissibility.

Applications for S nonimmigrant visa classification must be certified by the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division and approved by the Department of Homeland Security. Further information concerning the S Visa program may also be obtained by contacting the Office of Enforcement Operations, Criminal Division at (202) 514-6809.

[updated January 2020]