There are several types of immigration applications that can be supported by a specialized mental health assessment: VAWA, asylum, U or T visas and extreme hardship waivers.

When working with Dana Nolan, LMHC for an immigration assessment, you can expect to complete several questionnaires prior to the initial meeting which allows Ms. Nolan to focus her assessment on the specific issues relevant to your case.

If you are working with an immigration attorney, Ms. Nolan will ask your permission to discuss the specifics of your case with your attorney to ensure that the appropriate elements of the case are covered in the assessment and report.

During the mental health assessments, you will complete mental health assessment tools and participate in a clinical interview. This allows Ms. Nolan to gather the relevant information needed to write a detailed and compelling report addressing the psychological elements of your immigration application.

If a translator is needed for the interview, Ms. Nolan will facilitate scheduling a professional interpreter in your native language. Family members or friends cannot provide translation for mental health assessments for ethical and confidentiality reasons.

It is possible that participating in a mental health assessment may bring up uncomfortable memories of past abuse or fear related to family separation or relocation. Ms. Nolan compassionately conducts the interviews with those issues in mind.

Assessments are conducted over two meetings of about 1.5-2.0 hours with a week or two in between the meetings. One of the meetings is conducted in-person and the other may be held in-person or virtually. The mental health immigration report is usually completed within a week after the second meeting. If the assessment meetings and report need to be expedited, then a rush fee of $300-$500 is added to the cost of the assessment and report depending on the time constraints.