Hardship Letter vs Immigration Psychological Evaluation
Three documents get confused in a waiver case: the personal hardship letter, a therapist support letter, and the full clinical evaluation. Here is what each one is, who prepares it, and why strong cases use both.
A hardship letter is your family's personal declaration, written in your own words and prepared with your attorney. An immigration psychological evaluation is different: a 12 to 25 page clinical report by licensed clinicians, based on interviews and standardized instruments. Kipu Terra provides the evaluation only. Strong waiver filings usually include both documents.
What is a hardship letter, and who writes it?
A hardship letter, also called the personal declaration, is written by the qualifying relative in their own words. It describes, from the family's own perspective, what removal or separation would mean for them. It belongs to the attorney lane: the referring immigration attorney guides it, and Kipu Terra never writes it. The three lanes stay clean, the attorney handles the legal filing and the declaration, Kipu Terra provides the clinical evidence, and the client pays each separately.
If you are searching for a sample or a template to copy, this page does not provide one, and copying a stranger's letter is not a safe way to prepare your own. A declaration carries weight because it is true to your situation, and your attorney is the person who should guide it. What Kipu Terra contributes to the filing is different: the independent clinical report described below.
What is an immigration psychological evaluation?
What many families call la carta de psicólogo, the psychological report, or the informe psicológico is a full clinical evaluation, not a short letter. It is a 12 to 25 page report addressed to USCIS, co-signed by two licensed clinicians. Every case includes the PHQ-9 for depression and the GAD-7 for anxiety, with further instruments added only when the history calls for them: the PCL-5 with the LEC-5 for trauma, the PSS-14 for chronic stress and caregiver burden, and WHODAS 2.0 for functional impairment. Diagnostic impressions follow DSM-5-TR criteria.
The finished report returns to the referring attorney for the filing. For the full picture of what the evaluation covers, see what the full evaluation covers.
Psychological evaluation vs a letter from your therapist
A support letter from your therapist is brief. It confirms that you are in care and is written from inside a treatment relationship. A psychological evaluation is an impartial forensic assessment that produces a standalone report: a licensed evaluator who is not your treating clinician interviews you, administers standardized instruments, and documents specific, sourced findings for USCIS. The two are not interchangeable, and a support letter rarely carries the evidentiary weight a documented evaluation does.
Can my own therapist do my immigration evaluation?
An evaluator has to be impartial. A clinician who is treating you is not in an impartial position toward your case, and professional ethics separate the treating role from the evaluating role for that reason. An independent evaluator, someone who is not your therapist, protects the credibility of the report in front of USCIS. That is why Kipu Terra provides the evaluation as an independent, impartial party rather than a treating clinician.
Is the evaluation therapy?
No. It is a one-time forensic assessment, not treatment. The evaluators are impartial, and there is no ongoing treatment relationship. The evaluation is conducted nationwide as a remote forensic immigration assessment via secure video (Google Meet, free, works on any internet or phone connection), so distance is not a barrier. New Mexico is the home base, and the firm serves attorneys and families across the country.
Do we need both for the waiver?
The two documents do different jobs and typically travel together in a strong filing. The hardship letter gives the family's own account; the evaluation adds independent clinical evidence, tied to the legal standard and documented by licensed clinicians. Which documents your particular filing needs is a legal-strategy question for your attorney, not one Kipu Terra decides. What the evaluation does is turn asserted hardship into documented evidence; it does not decide the case.
See how the evaluation works step by step, review the flat published pricing, or contact us to get started.
Common waiver types with their own service pages: I-601A extreme hardship evaluation, I-601 waiver evaluation, and cancellation of removal evaluation.
Frequently asked questions
Can a therapist letter replace a psychological evaluation for immigration?
They are different documents and do different jobs. A therapist letter is brief and written inside a treatment relationship, confirming that someone is in care. An immigration psychological evaluation is a standalone forensic report by an impartial evaluator, based on a clinical interview and standardized instruments and addressed to USCIS. A support letter rarely carries the evidentiary weight a documented evaluation does. Whether a given filing needs one, the other, or both is a question for the referring attorney.
Can my own therapist do my immigration evaluation?
It is generally not advisable. A forensic evaluator has to be impartial, and a clinician who is treating you is not in an impartial position. Professional ethics separate the treating role from the evaluating role for that reason. An independent evaluator, someone who is not your therapist, protects the credibility of the report. Kipu Terra provides the evaluation as an independent, impartial party.
Who writes the hardship letter, the psychologist or the family?
The family writes the hardship letter. The personal declaration, sometimes called the hardship letter, is written by the qualifying relative in their own words, prepared with the referring immigration attorney. Kipu Terra does not write it. What the clinician prepares instead is the psychological evaluation, a separate clinical report based on an interview and standardized instruments.
Is an immigration psychological evaluation the same as therapy?
No. It is a one-time forensic assessment, not treatment. The evaluators are impartial and there is no ongoing treatment relationship. The purpose is to document, in a report for USCIS, what a clinical assessment finds. Therapy is ongoing care for the person; the evaluation is evidence for the case.
Are the psychological report, the psychological letter, and the carta de psicólogo the same thing?
Yes, they are different names for the same document. Families searching for an "informe psicológico," a "reporte psicológico," or a "carta de psicólogo" for immigration are usually looking for the full clinical evaluation: a 12 to 25 page report by licensed clinicians, addressed to USCIS. Kipu Terra prepares that report, co-signed by two licensed clinicians.
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