SIJS

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO ADJUST STATUS TO A LEGAL PERMANENT RESIDENT THROUGH SIJS? In order to adjust status as a special immigrant juvenile, the applicant must: 1) be eligible to adjust status, 2) have an immediately available visa, and 3) demonstrate that they merit a favorable exercise of discretion. WHAT IS MY PRIORITY DATE AND HOW DO I FIND MY PRIORITY DATE FOR SIJS? The priority date or Final Action Date is the date that the Form I-360 was filed. You can find this date on the I-360 receipt notice or approval notice. HOW DO I KNOW WHEN MY PRIORITY DATE IS CURRENT FOR SIJS? The State Department issues a chart each month with visa availability for different visa categories and countries. This chart is called the Visa Bulletin and can be found online at:https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html (or by searching for“Visa Bulletin”). The Visa Bulletin is used to inform people which categories of visas are backlogged, versus current, and to track progress while waiting for a priority date to become current. The Visa Bulletin has two charts within each of the Family-based and Employment-based categories: Chart A, “Final Action Dates,” and Chart B, “Dates for Filing.” By law, visas for special immigrant juveniles come from the employment-based 4th preference category, so for special immigrant juveniles, look to the Employment-based Preference Cases charts. STEP ONE: Look at Chart A, “FINAL ACTION DATES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCE CASES” under the Employment-based Preferences. Check the USCIS website to see if you can rely upon Chart B for the current month: https://www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo. If the USCIS website says you can use the “Dates for Filing” chart (Chart B) for the relevant month, then you can rely upon Chart B and may be able to file the I-485 even though a visa is not yet available. If the USCIS website says you must use the “Final Action Dates” chart (Chart A), then you cannot rely upon Chart B, and must use Chart A. If you must use Chart A, then you cannot file the I-485 unless your client’s priority date is 1) earlier than the date that appears in the employment-based 4th preference category for your client’s country of origin, or 2) current, as reflected by a “C” appearing in the 4th preference category for your client’s country of origin. STEP TWO: In Chart A, look at the “4th” preference line for your country of origin. If there is a “C” that category is “current” and there are visas available, so you can file the I-485 regardless of your client’s priority date. If there is a date (example:15JAN17 (January 15, 2017), that means that a backlog exists, and you can only file the I-485 if your priority date is EARLIER than the date listed. When a backlog exists, predicting exactly when someone will be able to adjust status is impossible, and anyone who gives you an estimate is guessing. In the image below the row with the preference category for SIJS cases is highlighted. WHAT CAN I DO TO LIMIT THE WAIT TIME? Start the process as soon as possible. Submit an I-360 petition as soon as you get the family court orders. Around the 15th of every month, the next month’s Visa Bulletin is usually posted online, so you can start getting the I-485 application ready to file if you see that your visa will be current in the coming month. The Visa Bulletin goes into effect on the first day of that month (January 2025 Visa Bulletin went into effect on January 1, 2025). Check the Visa Bulletin for the current month as well as whether USCIS is allowing use of Chart B that month (if you hope to rely on Chart B to file early) before filing the I-485 to avoid having it rejected. REMAIN ELIGIBLE UNTIL YOU COMPLETE THE PROCESS You cannot get married until after your I-360 has been approved. UPDATED APRIL 2022 8 CFR § 204.11(b)(2) was updated and effective April 2022, SIJS applicant now required to remain unmarried only through the adjudication of the SIJS petition, rather than through the adjudication of the subsequent application for adjustment of status. If you get into trouble with the law (arrests or criminal convictions) you may end up ineligible to adjust status through SIJS. You must remain under the State Court’s jurisdiction until you are 21 or until you complete the process. If you are in removal proceedings you will need to get those proceedings dismissed and should attend all Court dates until that happens. A removal order may complicate your case tremendously . DEFERRED ACTION WITH APPROVED I-360 USCIS announced a new policy that went into effect on May 6, 2022 and that applies to young people who have been granted SIJS but are not yet able to apply for adjustment ofstatus because they are waiting for a visa to be available. The new policy provides that young people stuck in the visa backlog will be considered for deferred action on a case-by-casebasis. If deferred action is granted, it will be for a period of four years. Young people granted deferred action are then eligible to apply for an EAD for the period of deferred action by filingan Application for Employment Authorization (Form I-765), indicating eligibility category (c)(14). For more information on this new policy, see U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Policy Manual (USCIS-PM) J.4(G).

If I file Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, as a special immigrant juvenile (SIJ), will USCIS make a deferred action assessment at the same time as the Form I-360 assessment? For most pending and future SIJ cases, USCIS will automatically make a deferred action determination immediately after we approve Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant. This is similar to the process to consider deferred action for self-petitioners under the Violence Against Women Act. After we adjudicate Form I-360 and deferred action, we will issue a Form I-797, Notice of Action, that includes information about the decision on the Form I-360 and a determination on deferred action. In certain cases, the deferred action determination may take place after we approve the Form I-360 because USCIS needs additional information to make a decision. In these cases, you will receive notification of the deferred action determination separately from the Form I-360 approval. If you have an approved SIJ Form I-360, but you become newly eligible for consideration of deferred action due to a visa retrogression, we will consider deferred action for your case. You do not need to make a separate request for deferred action, and if you do, we will not accept it. After we decide whether to grant deferred action, we will issue an amended Form I-797, Notice of Action, that includes information about the original grant of SIJ classification and our determination on deferred action. What is the timeline for granting deferred action? USCIS began making deferred action determinations on May 6, 2022, 60 days after publishing the Policy Manual update announcing the SIJ deferred action policy. Processing times may vary depending on the circumstances of the case. If you grant deferred action, and I file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, how long will you take to adjudicate my Form I-765? USCIS will try to adjudicate all benefit requests in a timely manner. We adjudicate Forms I-765 submitted after a grant of SIJ deferred action in the order we receive them. For more information on processing times for Form I-765, please see egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/i765. If you already granted me SIJ, can I be considered for deferred action? Yes. If you have an approved SIJ-based Form I-360, and you cannot apply to adjust your status (get a Green Card) because you do not have a current visa number, we will consider you for deferred action if we have not already. You do not need to take any action or ask us to start this process. I am an SIJ-classified noncitizen with a pending Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, and I no longer have a current visa number due to a visa retrogression. Will you consider me for deferred action? Yes. If you applied for adjustment of status when a visa number was available or when we were accepting Form I-485 based on the “Dates for Filing” chart of the Visa Bulletin, we will consider you for deferred action if the Visa Bulletin subsequently retrogressed and your Form I-485 is still pending. I received a Form I-360 approval with no corresponding deferred action decision, and there is no apparent reason for delay. Can you explain why this might happen and what I can do to receive deferred action? As of May 6, 2022, we are considering deferred action when we adjudicate Form I-360 for all pending and future SIJ-based Form I-360 petitioners who do not have a current visa number available. Generally, we will issue a deferred action determination together with our decision on Form I-360. However, if we need additional information, which may include requesting biometrics, to make the deferred action determination, we may issue a decision on Form I-360 first. If my Form I-360 was approved or pending before the new deferred action process, how do I apply for deferred action? We will automatically make initial deferred action determinations for approved SIJs who cannot apply for adjustment of status solely because an immigrant visa number is not immediately available. You do not need to submit a separate request for deferred action; if you do, we will not accept it. We will consider deferred action on a case-by-case basis to determine whether you warrant a favorable decision. Do I need to submit biometric information to receive an SIJ deferred action determination? We generally do not require a separate biometrics submission to grant SIJ deferred action. However, we complete background and security checks when we adjudicate an SIJ petition and, depending on the facts and circumstances of your case, we may ask you to submit biometrics or to appear for an interview before we grant deferred action. See 8 CFR 103.2(b)(9). Are there factors you consider for deferred action that are not already part of the Form I-360 adjudication? Deferred action is a temporary, favorable exercise of discretion that gives some cases lower priority for immigration enforcement action. We examine the totality of the circumstances in an individual case and weigh positive and negative factors to determine whether to grant deferred action. If you have been approved for SIJ classification, that is a strong positive factor toward granting deferred action. If background and security checks indicate you may be inadmissible under INA 212(a) on a ground that cannot be waived and that would make you ineligible for SIJ-based adjustment of status, that would generally be a strong negative factor against granting deferred action. We may decide, on a case-by-case basis, that other adverse factors weigh against granting deferred action, such as serious unresolved criminal charges that may result in an unwaivable inadmissibility ground that would render you ineligible for SIJ-based adjustment of status. We may also grant deferred action despite these concerns if case-specific circumstances warrant it. What evidence will you rely on when considering deferred action? We will weigh positive and negative factors on a case-by-case basis to determine whether to grant deferred action. An approved SIJ petition is a particularly strong positive discretionary factor. We will not issue a … Read more