Friday Night

Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) provides leadership, support, training, public education, and advocacy to address the civil legal needs of Virginia's low-income population. Our legal staff specializes in areas of law that affect low-income Virginians. Through training and communications we educate others about the legal rights of the poor and identify and address systemic problems and issues. We work collaboratively with Virginia's Legal Aid community, executive agencies, legislative bodies, and other organizations and stakeholders to represent the interests of low-income Virginians. Susheela Varky, the Staff Attorney who focuses on domestic and sexual violence, established the Legal
Assistance to Victim-Immigrants of Domestic Abuse (LA VIDA) program for eligible low-income, undocumented or under-documented immigrant victims of domestic or sexual violence in 2009. The LA VIDA Team conducts intakes to determine if immigrant domestic and sexual violence survivors qualify for visas, especially U visas, VAWA Self-Petitions, Removal of Conditions for Battered Spouses, or T visas (and associated LPR applications). Completing an intake does not guarantee eligibility for a visa or any other immigration petition nor does it guarantee free legal representation. That said, LA VIDA prepares and submits visa applications for eligible clients and connects other victims with attorneys and  professionals who can help them with appropriate immigration petitions.