Brian D. Lerner Immigration Attorney & Deportation Lawyer Blog

On October 11, USCIS issued 3 adopted Administrative Appeals Office decisions that clarified the requirements for a Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification. On November 19, USCIS updated its policy manual to reflect those decisions. The three clarifications are that 1) the petitioner must have been a juvenile under relevant state law when the juvenile court order was issued; 2) the court’s intervention must have provided relief from abuse, neglect, or abandonment, and cannot be just a statement that the juvenile is dependent on the court; and 3) it is no longer required to show that a state court had the authority to place a petitioner in the custody of an unfit parent in order to make a determination regarding parental reunification for purposes of SIJ classification.