Immigration Psychological Evaluation Data
2026 Immigration Psychological Evaluation Findings Report
De-identified assessment findings from immigration psychological evaluation clients at Motivations Counseling, summarizing anxiety, depression, trauma symptoms, and co-occurring clinical patterns observed between May 2025 and May 2026.
This report is intended as an educational and attorney-facing resource. It summarizes aggregate clinical screening data only and does not identify clients, predict immigration outcomes, or represent all immigrants or immigration applicants.
Snapshot of Findings
Report Author
Susan Baker, M.Ed., LPC-S, NCC
This report was prepared by Susan Baker, Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor and founder of Motivations Counseling. Findings are based on de-identified assessment data collected through immigration psychological evaluations conducted by Motivations Counseling between May 2025 and May 2026.
Motivations Counseling has completed hundreds of immigration psychological evaluations for USCIS and Immigration Court matters including hardship waivers, VAWA petitions, U-Visa cases, asylum evaluations, cancellation of removal matters, and related immigration proceedings.
Executive Summary
Assessment Findings From Immigration Evaluation Clients
This report summarizes de-identified screening data from immigration-tagged assessment records completed through Motivations Counseling between May 2025 and May 2026. The findings highlight clinically significant anxiety, depressive, trauma-related, and overlapping symptom patterns among clients referred for immigration psychological evaluations.
Reporting Period
May 2025 – May 2026
Records were reviewed within the requested one-year reporting window.
Inclusion Criteria
Immigration evaluations
Only records marked as immigration-related were included in this findings summary.
Screening Submissions
50Valid measure-specific submissions analyzed across the GAD-7, BDI-II, and PCL-5.
GAD-7
19Valid immigration-tagged anxiety screening records included in this period.
BDI-II
20Valid immigration-tagged depression screening records included in this period.
PCL-5
11Valid immigration-tagged trauma screening records included in this period.
Key Findings
Clinically Significant Symptoms Were Common Across Multiple Domains
The strongest finding from the data is not simply that clients reported trauma, anxiety, or depression in isolation. Rather, symptom elevations frequently occurred across more than one mental health domain.
Clinically Significant Anxiety
63.2%Moderate-to-Severe Anxiety
Twelve of 19 valid GAD-7 records scored in the moderate or severe anxiety range.
Depressive Symptoms
65.0%Moderate-to-Severe Depression
Thirteen of 20 valid BDI-II records scored in the moderate or severe depressive symptom ranges.
Trauma Symptoms
81.8%Probable PTSD Threshold
Nine of 11 valid PCL-5 records met or exceeded the screening threshold commonly associated with probable PTSD.
Multiple Domains
75.0%Elevated Across All Three
Six of eight matched clients showed clinically significant elevations across the anxiety, depression, and PTSD screening domains.
Symptom Overlap
87.5%Anxiety + Depression
Seven of eight matched clients showed clinically significant elevations in both anxiety and depression screening domains.
Clinical Documentation
Standardized Screening Adds Context
Findings support the value of combining clinical interview with standardized screening tools in immigration psychological evaluations.
Anxiety Findings
Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)
The GAD-7 measures anxiety symptoms such as excessive worry, trouble relaxing, restlessness, irritability, and fear that something awful might happen.
Minimal Anxiety
Three of 19 records scored from 0–4.
Mild Anxiety
Four of 19 records scored from 5–9.
Moderate Anxiety
Five of 19 records scored from 10–14.
Severe Anxiety
Seven of 19 records scored 15 or higher.
Moderate-to-Severe Anxiety
Twelve of 19 records scored 10 or higher.
Clinical Meaning
Anxiety symptoms were common and may reflect chronic stress, uncertainty, safety concerns, family separation, and trauma-related nervous system activation.
Depression Findings
Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II)
The BDI-II measures depressive symptoms such as sadness, pessimism, loss of pleasure, guilt, worthlessness, sleep changes, appetite changes, fatigue, and concentration difficulty.
Minimal Depression
Five of 20 records scored from 0–13.
Mild Depression
Two of 20 records scored from 14–19.
Moderate Depression
Two of 20 records scored from 20–28.
Severe Depression
Eleven of 20 records scored from 29–63.
Moderate-to-Severe Depression
Thirteen of 20 records scored 20 or higher.
Clinical Meaning
Depressive symptoms may involve hopelessness, reduced motivation, sleep disruption, appetite changes, emotional withdrawal, and impaired daily functioning.
Trauma Findings
PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5)
The PCL-5 measures trauma-related symptoms including intrusive memories, nightmares, avoidance, negative changes in mood and beliefs, hypervigilance, exaggerated startle response, and sleep disturbance.
Below PTSD Screening Threshold
Two of 11 records scored below 31.
Probable PTSD Threshold
Nine of 11 records scored 31 or higher.
Elevated Trauma Symptoms
Two of 11 records scored from 31–49.
Severe Trauma Symptoms
Seven of 11 records scored 50 or higher.
Clinical Meaning
High PCL-5 scores suggest significant trauma-related symptom burden that may affect sleep, concentration, emotional regulation, relationships, and daily functioning.
Evaluation Relevance
Trauma screening findings can help structure clinical interviews and support detailed documentation of psychological functioning.
Co-Occurring Symptom Patterns
Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression Frequently Overlapped
Co-occurrence findings are based on eight matched clients with valid scores on all three screeners. Clinically significant thresholds used here were GAD-7 ≥ 10, BDI-II ≥ 20, and PCL-5 ≥ 31.
Matched Subset
8Clients With All Three Measures
Co-occurring symptom calculations are based only on the eight clients whose valid records could be matched across the GAD-7, BDI-II, and PCL-5.
Anxiety + Depression
87.5%Both Domains Elevated
Seven of eight matched clients showed clinically significant elevations in both anxiety and depression screening domains.
Anxiety + PTSD
75.0%Both Domains Elevated
Six of eight matched clients showed clinically significant elevations in both anxiety and PTSD screening domains.
Depression + PTSD
75.0%Both Domains Elevated
Six of eight matched clients showed clinically significant elevations in both depression and PTSD screening domains.
All Three Domains
75.0%Anxiety + Depression + PTSD
Six of eight matched clients showed clinically significant elevations across all three screening domains.
Clinical Interpretation
Symptoms Were Often Complex
Findings suggest that distress among immigration evaluation clients may extend across multiple domains rather than appearing as one isolated symptom cluster.
Clinical Observations
What These Findings Suggest Clinically
These findings suggest that individuals referred for immigration psychological evaluations often present with substantial emotional distress across anxiety, depressive, and trauma-related symptom domains. While each client’s history and clinical presentation is unique, the aggregate data show that standardized screeners frequently identify symptom patterns that may be important to explore during a comprehensive clinical interview.
In clinical practice, immigration evaluation clients may describe stressors such as family separation, uncertainty about legal status, fear of removal, exposure to violence or threats, grief, disruption of family roles, loss of stability, and prolonged emotional strain. These experiences may be associated with symptoms such as:
- Excessive worry, panic symptoms, restlessness, and difficulty relaxing.
- Depressed mood, hopelessness, fatigue, diminished interest, and sleep or appetite disruption.
- Intrusive memories, nightmares, avoidance, emotional numbing, hypervigilance, and exaggerated startle response.
- Concentration problems, irritability, interpersonal withdrawal, and changes in daily functioning.
The data support the value of immigration psychological evaluations that combine trauma-informed clinical interviewing with standardized screening tools. Standardized measures do not replace clinical judgment, but they can help document symptom severity, support consistency, and provide attorneys with clearer insight into emotional and functional concerns relevant to a client’s case context.
These findings should be interpreted conservatively. This report reflects a clinical referral population at Motivations Counseling and should not be generalized to all immigrants, all immigration applicants, or all individuals involved in immigration proceedings.
For Immigration Attorneys
Why These Findings Matter for Attorney Referrals
The report highlights why brief symptom letters may not fully capture the clinical complexity seen in many immigration evaluation referrals. Standardized assessment data can help clarify severity, co-occurring symptoms, and areas for clinical exploration.
Forensic-Style Evaluation Quality
Comprehensive reports can integrate interview findings, standardized assessment results, functional impact, and clinical impressions.
Read related article →Attorney Referral Process
Learn about scheduling, intake, document review, report timelines, and coordination when the client authorizes attorney communication.
View attorney information →Texas Telehealth Availability
Motivations Counseling provides immigration psychological evaluations for clients located throughout Texas when clinically appropriate.
Explore evaluation services →Methodology
How the Findings Were Calculated
Findings were calculated from de-identified CSV exports of screening submissions and limited to records within the May 2025–May 2026 reporting window where the immigration field was marked yes.
Assessment Measures
Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)
The GAD-7 is a seven-item self-report measure used to assess anxiety symptom severity. For this report, scores of 0–4 were categorized as minimal, 5–9 as mild, 10–14 as moderate, and 15–21 as severe. Scores of 10 or higher were treated as clinically significant anxiety symptoms for aggregate reporting purposes.
Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II)
The BDI-II is a 21-item self-report measure used to assess depressive symptom severity. For this report, scores of 0–13 were categorized as minimal, 14–19 as mild, 20–28 as moderate, and 29–63 as severe. Scores of 20 or higher were treated as moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms for aggregate reporting purposes.
PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5)
The PCL-5 is a 20-item self-report measure used to assess trauma-related symptoms associated with PTSD. For this report, scores of 31 or higher were treated as meeting a commonly used screening threshold consistent with probable PTSD. Scores of 31–49 were described as elevated trauma symptoms, and scores of 50 or higher were described as severe trauma symptoms for aggregate reporting purposes.
Inclusion Criteria
Records were included when they were completed between May 2025 and May 2026, contained a valid total score, and were marked as immigration-related using the form field value immigration = yes. Identifying client information was not used in the public report.
Sample Sizes and Denominators
The analysis included 50 valid, measure-specific screening submissions: 19 GAD-7 records, 20 BDI-II records, and 11 PCL-5 records. The measure-specific percentages use those respective denominators. Because one client may have completed more than one measure, the 50 submissions do not represent 50 unique clients. Co-occurring symptom percentages were calculated separately using the eight clients with valid scores available across all three measures.
Limitations
These findings reflect a clinical referral population and should not be interpreted as representative of all immigrants, all immigration applicants, or all individuals involved in immigration proceedings. The measure-specific and matched samples are small, so percentages should be interpreted alongside the raw counts and as descriptive findings rather than population estimates. Screening instruments are not a substitute for a complete clinical evaluation. This report does not analyze legal outcomes, USCIS decisions, or immigration court results.
Related Resources
Continue Exploring Immigration Evaluation Topics
These related articles provide additional context for attorneys, clients, and families seeking to understand trauma-informed immigration psychological evaluations.
Attorney Resource
The Importance of Forensic Immigration Evaluations
Why structured clinical analysis and professional documentation matter in immigration psychological evaluations.
Read article →Trauma
Trauma in Immigration Cases
Understanding trauma responses, chronic stress, and emotional hardship documentation.
Read article →Immigration Stress
Immigration Stress & Emotional Functioning
Explore how uncertainty, fear, separation, and chronic stress can affect emotional health and functioning.
Read article →Next Step
Need an Immigration Psychological Evaluation?
Motivations Counseling provides trauma-informed immigration psychological evaluations for clients located in Texas, with experience preparing reports for USCIS and Immigration Court matters. Evaluations may include clinical interview, review of relevant materials, standardized screening tools, and professional attorney coordination when authorized by the client.
This report is educational and does not provide legal advice. Immigration strategy, eligibility, and case-specific legal questions should be addressed by a qualified immigration attorney.
