We have many clients here in Marin County and in the wider San Francisco Bay Area who have qualified for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). In fact, across the country, the number of petitions received and approved for SIJS by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services steadily increased every year between 2010 and 2017.

SIJS is a way minors who are currently in the United States to adjust their status to that of Lawful Permanent Resident even if they have an unauthorized entry or unlawful presence in the U. S. In many other instances, that would have made them inadmissible to the U.S. and bar them from Adjustment of Status. Abuse, neglect, or abandonment by one or both parents is the key criterion for SIJS.

Some important things to note about SIJS:

• It only applies to children already in the U.S.;

• It’s ok if the children came to the U.S. via unlawful entry or unlawful presence;

• It applies to children subject to state juvenile court proceedings related to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis under state law;

• The petition must be filed while the applicant is still a minor. It is ok that by the time the application is approved and Lawful Permanent Resident status is granted that the applicant may be an adult by that time.

More detailed information about SIJS can be found on the USCIS website.

To learn more about SIJS, please request an appointment with us.