SIJ Classification & Adjustment
Coordinated Family Court and immigration representation for eligible young people seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile classification and permanent residence.
Qualifying for SIJ classification
SIJ generally requires an unmarried applicant physically present in the United States, under 21 at I-360 filing, and a qualifying state juvenile-court order addressing custody or dependency, parental abuse, neglect, abandonment or a similar basis, and the young person’s best interests. The state court must have jurisdiction under its own age rules.
Adjustment of status after SIJ approval
An approved I-360 is a first step, not a green card. Adjustment generally requires an available EB-4 visa number, an adjustment application, and satisfaction of the applicable eligibility and admissibility provisions. Special statutory exceptions apply to SIJ adjustment. USCIS does not impose a separate under-21 age limit on SIJ-based adjustment.
Visa backlogs and removal proceedings
EB-4 priority-date movement can delay adjustment. We assess filing-chart rules, work authorization where available, deferred action policies, removal proceedings, and other options while a visa is unavailable.
State-court representation
We handle guardianship and custody proceedings needed to obtain predicate findings, and coordinate those findings with the federal petition and adjustment strategy.