SIJ Special Immigrant Juvenile classification
Special Immigrant Juvenile classification is for a child in the United States whom a state juvenile court has found cannot be reunified with one or both parents because of abuse, neglect, abandonment or a similar basis under state law, and for whom returning to their home country is not in their best interest. It is unusual in requiring a state court order before the federal application can even be filed. It is also, since 2022, badly backlogged, because it draws its visa numbers from the oversubscribed EB-4 category.
- Срок
- The classification does not expire once approved. What is time-limited is eligibility to file: the person must be under 21 and unmarried on the filing date. There is no age limit on applying for the green card afterwards, and USCIS will not deny an SIJ-based I-485 on the basis of current age if the applicant was under 21 when the I-360 was properly filed.
- Продление
- Nothing to extend. Deferred action granted to SIJs waiting for a visa number ran for a set period, but USCIS will not consider renewal requests for SIJs still awaiting a number, and may terminate existing grants and revoke the associated work permit before it expires.
- Работа
- Only through the green card application, in practice. An SIJ with a pending Form I-485 may obtain a work permit in category (c)(9). Deferred action with a category (c)(14) work permit was granted automatically to SIJs who could not adjust solely because a visa was unavailable, under a 2022 policy, but that policy has been rescinded twice and is now off. Since 10 May 2026, for I-360s filed on or after that date, USCIS no longer makes automatic deferred action determinations.
- Члены семьи
- None. This is the category's sharpest limitation. An SIJ has no derivatives - not a spouse, not a child - and by design can never petition for the parents, including a non-abusive parent.
- Путь к грин-карте
- Form I-360 establishes the classification. When an EB-4 number is available, Form I-485 follows, with no filing fee. SIJs are deemed paroled for adjustment purposes, so it does not matter how they entered the country. They are exempt from all bars to adjustment except the terrorist-related bar in INA 245(c)(6), which has no waiver, and are exempt from several grounds of inadmissibility. Naturalisation follows five years after residence is granted.
- Срок рассмотрения
- Two clocks, and the second is the problem. USCIS adjudicates the I-360 - the national median across all I-360 classifications was 6.2 months for FY2026 through 30 June 2026, up from 4.2 in FY2025. Then comes the EB-4 queue, which at a September 2026 final action date of 15DEC22 is running roughly three and three quarter years behind. SIJ-specific figures are unverified.
- Годовая квота и очереди
- SIJ visas come from the employment-based fourth preference and are charged against it. EB-4 receives 7.1% of the worldwide employment-based level, which for FY2026 is 186,317, with a per-country limit of 28,862. September 2026 EB-4 final action dates are 15DEC22 for every column - all chargeability areas, China, India, Mexico and the Philippines - and dates for filing are 01JAN23 across the board. Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are not listed separately and fall under all chargeability areas, so those figures apply to them. EB-4 is retrogressed rather than unavailable, but the bulletin warns categories may become unavailable before the fiscal year ends, and EB-4 exhausted its entire FY2025 allocation by 28 February 2025.
Кто подходит
- A person under 21 and unmarried on the date the Form I-360 is properly filed, who is present in the United States
- A person for whom a state juvenile court has made the required findings: that they are dependent on the court or placed in the custody of a state agency or an individual appointed by the court; that reunification with one or both parents is not viable because of abuse, neglect, abandonment or a similar basis under state law; and that it is not in their best interest to return to their or their parents' country of nationality or last habitual residence
- A person who obtains USCIS consent to the grant of classification
- Where the child is in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, someone who also has HHS consent to the juvenile court's jurisdiction where the order alters custody status or placement
Требования
- A qualifying state juvenile court order making all the required findings, obtained while the court had jurisdiction
- Under 21 and unmarried when the Form I-360 is properly filed
- USCIS consent, meaning the request for classification is bona fide and the juvenile court order was sought for relief from abuse, neglect or abandonment rather than primarily to obtain an immigration benefit
- The $250 non-waivable H.R. 1 SIJ fee for I-360s postmarked on or after 22 July 2025
- For the green card stage, an available EB-4 visa number and admissibility, with several grounds waived
- No good moral character requirement and no criminal bars to the I-360 itself - Congress did not write any into the statute
Как подать
- 1
Go to state juvenile court first. Obtain an order containing the dependency or custody finding, the non-viability of reunification with one or both parents because of abuse, neglect, abandonment or a similar state law basis, and the best interest finding on return.
- 2
File Form I-360 with USCIS while under 21 and unmarried, with the court order and supporting evidence, and pay the $250 H.R. 1 fee.
- 3
Do not count on deferred action while waiting. Since 10 May 2026 USCIS no longer makes automatic deferred action determinations for SIJs who cannot adjust solely because a visa is unavailable, and will not consider renewal requests for those still awaiting a number.
- 4
Wait for the EB-4 priority date. In September 2026 that is 15DEC22 for every country.
- 5
When a number is available, file Form I-485 with no fee, along with Form I-765 in category (c)(9) if you need to work.
- 6
Attend biometrics and, where scheduled, the interview. Your age at that point does not matter if you were under 21 when the I-360 was properly filed.
Сборы и формы
| Form I-360 Special Immigrant Juvenile petition | $0 filing fee, plus a $250 non-waivable H.R. 1 SIJ fee for petitions postmarked on or after 22 July 2025. The $250 was not inflation-adjusted for FY2026 |
| Form I-485 adjustment of status based on SIJ classification | $0 - fee exempt |
| Form I-765 employment authorisation in category (c)(9) or (c)(14) | $0 |
| Form I-601 waiver of inadmissibility, if needed | $930 when collected for USCIS at a consulate |
| State juvenile court proceedings | set by the state court, not by USCIS |
Что изменилось в 2025 и 2026 годах
- 6 June 2025 - policy update PA-2025-07 rescinded the March 2022 policy of automatically considering deferred action, with a category (c)(14) work permit, for SIJs who could not adjust solely because a visa was unavailable.
- 24 July 2025 - USCIS published a report alleging significant national security and integrity vulnerabilities in the SIJ programme, reviewing over 300,000 petitions filed from the start of FY2013 through February 2025. It states that more than half of SIJ petitioners filing in FY2024 were over 18, and identifies 853 known or suspected gang members among petitioners.
- 22 July 2025 - H.R. 1 introduced the $250 SIJ fee, applying to petitions postmarked on or after that date. It is non-waivable and was expressly not inflation-adjusted for FY2026.
- 19 November 2025 - the Eastern District of New York stayed the June 2025 rescission in A.C.R. v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-03962-EK-TAM. USCIS resumed automatic consideration and accepted renewal requests on Form G-325A.
- 10 April 2026 - USCIS re-announced the rescission in policy memorandum PM-602-0198, effective 10 May 2026. For SIJ-based I-360s filed on or after 10 May 2026, USCIS no longer makes automatic deferred action determinations. Requests submitted on Form G-325A before 10 May 2026 were considered under the 2022 policy. Existing grants will generally retain deferred action and the associated work permit until expiry, but USCIS may terminate a grant through a notice to appear or a notice of termination and revoke the work permit before its validity period ends. Policy Manual Volume 6 Part J Chapter 4 adds that USCIS will not consider renewal requests for SIJs still awaiting a visa number.
- 8 May 2026 - policy update PA-2026-01 reaffirmed deferred action as an extraordinary use of prosecutorial discretion, never categorical, expressly cross-referencing PM-602-0198.
- No SIJ rulemaking appeared in the Federal Register in 2025 or 2026, and there has been no Policy Manual change on age-out, consent or predicate order requirements since 2024. The current posture of A.C.R. v. Noem after the April and May 2026 re-rescission is unverified.
- Special Immigrant Juveniles remain exempt from the public charge ground under the 20 July 2026 final rule effective 18 September 2026.
Где чаще всего ошибаются
- Filing the I-360 after the 21st birthday or after marrying. Both are fatal, and the state court order takes time to obtain, so the court process must start well before the birthday.
- A court order that recites conclusions without the statutory findings. USCIS reviews the order for the dependency or custody finding, the non-viability of reunification, and the best interest determination, and it must have been within the court's jurisdiction.
- The consent problem. USCIS must find the request bona fide - that the juvenile court order was sought for relief from abuse, neglect or abandonment rather than primarily to obtain immigration status - and the July 2025 report signals sharply increased scrutiny of exactly that.
- Assuming deferred action and a work permit while waiting for a number. Since 10 May 2026 that is gone for new filings, renewals are not considered, and existing grants may be terminated.
- Expecting to bring family. There are no derivatives, and an SIJ can never petition for either parent, including one who was not the abuser.
- Waiting years in the EB-4 queue without status. Three and three quarter years at the September 2026 date, with no work permit and no protection from removal, is the ordinary experience now.
- The terrorist-related adjustment bar in INA 245(c)(6). SIJs are exempt from every other bar to adjustment, but there is no waiver or exemption for that one.
Также в категории Special immigrant
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