General Eligibility Requirements for SIJ Classification INA§101(a)(27)(J) (codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J) (a) As used in this chapter— (1)–(26) * * * (27) The term “special immigrant” means— (J) an immigrant who is present in the United States— (i) who has been declared dependent on a juvenile court located in the United States or whom such a court has legally committed to, or placed under the custody of, an agency or department of a State, or an individual or entity appointed by a State or juvenile court located in the United States, and whose reunification with 1 or both of the immigrant’s parents is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis found under State law; (ii) for whom it has been determined in administrative or judicial proceedings that it would not be in the alien’s best interest to be returned to the alien’s or parent’s previous country of nationality or country of last habitual residence; and (iii) in whose case the Secretary of Homeland Security consents to the grant of special immigrant juvenile status, except that— (I) no juvenile court has jurisdiction to determine the custody status or placement of an alien in the custody of the Secretary of Health and Human Services unless the Secretary of Health and Human Services specifically consents to such jurisdiction; and (II) no natural parent or prior adoptive parent of any alien provided special immigrant status under this subparagraph shall thereafter, by virtue of such parentage, be accorded any right, privilege, or status under this chapter; PROCESS Age-out Protections for Filing with USCIS In general, a juvenile may seek SIJ classification if he or she is under 21 years of age and unmarried at the time of filing the petition with USCIS. However, state law is controlling as to whether a petitioner is considered a “child” or any other equivalent term for a juvenile subject to the jurisdiction of a state juvenile court for custody or dependency proceedings. If a petitioner was under 21 years of age on the date of the proper filing of the Form I-360, and all other eligibility requirements under the statute are met, USCIS cannot deny SIJ classification solely because the petitioner is older than 21 years of age at the time of adjudication. USCIS RECENTLY IMPLEMENTED IN-PERSON APPOINTMENTS AT USCIS FIELD OFFICES FOR SIJS AGE-OUTS For Applicants who are within a month of their 21st birthday, USCIS allows them to make an appointment to drop off their I-360 self-petition in-person to ensure it is timely filed. Juvenile Court Order For purposes of SIJ classification, a juvenile court is defined as a U.S. court having jurisdiction under state law to make judicial determinations on the dependency and/or custody and care of juveniles. This means the court must have the authority to make determinations about dependency and/or custody and care of the petitioner as a juvenile under state law at the time the order was issued. Depending on the circumstances, such a determination generally would be expected to remain in place until the juvenile reached the age of majority, or until the goal of a child welfare permanency plan, such as adoption, or other protective relief ordered by the juvenile court has been reached. The title and the type of court that may meet the definition of a juvenile court varies from state to state. Examples of state courts that may meet this definition include: juvenile, family, dependency, orphans, guardianship, probate, and youthful offender courts. Not all courts having jurisdiction over juveniles under state law may be acting as juvenile courts for the purposes of SIJ classification. For example, a court of general jurisdiction that issues an order with SIJ-related findings outside of any juvenile custody or dependency proceeding would generally not be acting as a juvenile court for SIJ purposes. The burden is on the petitioner to establish that the court is acting as a juvenile court at the time that the order is issued. To be eligible for SIJ classification, the petitioner must submit a juvenile court order(s) with the following determinations, and the record must provide evidence that there is a reasonable factual basis for each of the determinations:

IN-PERSON APPOINTMENTS AT USCIS FIELD OFFICES FOR SIJS AGE-OUTS In-person appointments can be scheduled if the child is turning 21 in two weeks or sooner by contacting the  USCIS Contact Center to request an expedited appointment with a USCIS field office . If you try to make an appointment more than 14 days prior to the child’s twenty-first birthday USCIS will presumably advise you to file by mail instead.  No I-360 receipt will be issued at the in-person appointment. The I-360 receipt will be issued by mail but will have the filing date of the day they appeared in-person at the field office. The USCIS field office won’t issue any proof of filing at the appointment.  In-person appointments can be scheduled if the child is turning 21 in two weeks or sooner by contacting the  USCIS Contact Center to request an expedited appointment with a USCIS field office . If you try to make an appointment more than 14 days prior to the child’s twenty-first birthday USCIS will presumably advise you to file by mail instead. 

ALL LEGAL AUTHORITIES INA 101(a)(27)(J)  SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE DEFINITION (J) an immigrant who is present in the United States- (i) who has been declared dependent on a juvenile court located in the United States or whom such a court has legally committed to, or placed under the custody of, an agency or department of a State, or an individual or entity appointed by a State or juvenile court located in the United States, and whose reunification with 1 or both of the immigrant’s parents is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis found under State law; (ii) for whom it has been determined in administrative or judicial proceedings that it would not be in the alien’s best interest to be returned to the alien’s or parent’s previous country of nationality or country of last habitual residence; and (iii) in whose case the Secretary of Homeland Security consents to the grant of special immigrant juvenile status, except that- (I) no juvenile court has jurisdiction to determine the custody status or placement of an alien in the custody of the Secretary of Health and Human Services unless the Secretary of Health and Human Services specifically consents to such jurisdiction; and (II) no natural parent or prior adoptive parent of any alien provided special immigrant status under this subparagraph shall thereafter, by virtue of such parentage, be accorded any right, privilege, or status under this chapter; 8 CFR 204.11  Special immigrant juvenile classification § 204.11 Special immigrant juvenile classification. (a) Definitions. As used in this section, the following definitions apply to a request for classification as a special immigrant juvenile. Judicial determination means a conclusion of law made by a juvenile court. Juvenile court means a court located in the United States that has jurisdiction under State law to make judicial determinations about the dependency and/or custody and care of juveniles. Petition means the form designated by USCIS to request classification as a special immigrant juvenile and the act of filing the request. Petitioner means the alien seeking special immigrant juvenile classification. State means the definition set out in section 101(a)(36) of the Act, including an Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consortium, operating a program under a plan approved under 42 U.S.C. 671. United States means the definition set out in section 101(a)(38) of the Act. (b) Eligibility. A petitioner is eligible for classification as a special immigrant juvenile under section 203(b)(4) of the Act as described at section 101(a)(27)(J) of the Act, if they meet all of the following requirements: (1) Is under 21 years of age at the time of filing the petition; (2) Is unmarried at the time of filing and adjudication; (3) Is physically present in the United States; (4) Is the subject of a juvenile court order(s) that meets the requirements under paragraph (c) of this section; and (5) Obtains consent from the Secretary of Homeland Security to classification as a special immigrant juvenile. For USCIS to consent, the request for SIJ classification must be bona fide, which requires the petitioner to establish that a primary reason the required juvenile court determinations were sought was to obtain relief from parental abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis under State law. USCIS may withhold consent if evidence materially conflicts with the eligibility requirements in paragraph (b) of this section such that the record reflects that the request for SIJ classification was not bona fide. USCIS approval of the petition constitutes the granting of consent. (c) Juvenile court order(s) — (1) Court-ordered dependency or custody and parental reunification determination. The juvenile court must have made certain judicial determinations related to the petitioner’s custody or dependency and determined that the petitioner cannot reunify with their parent(s) due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis under State law. (i) The juvenile court must have made at least one of the following judicial determinations related to the petitioner’s custodial placement or dependency in accordance with State law governing such determinations: (A) Declared the petitioner dependent upon the juvenile court; or (B) Legally committed to or placed the petitioner under the custody of an agency or department of a State, or an individual or entity appointed by a State or juvenile court. (ii) The juvenile court must have made a judicial determination that parental reunification with one or both parents is not viable due to abuse, abandonment, neglect, or a similar basis under State law. The court is not required to terminate parental rights to determine that parental reunification is not viable. (2) Best interest determination. (i) A determination must be made in judicial or administrative proceedings by a court or agency recognized by the juvenile court and authorized by law to make such decisions that it would not be in the petitioner’s best interest to be returned to the petitioner’s or their parent’s country of nationality or last habitual residence. (ii) Nothing in this part should be construed as altering the standards for best interest determinations that juvenile court judges routinely apply under relevant State law. (3) Qualifying juvenile court order(s). (i) The juvenile court must have exercised its authority over the petitioner as a juvenile and made the requisite judicial determinations in this paragraph under applicable State law to establish eligibility. (ii) The juvenile court order(s) must be in effect on the date the petitioner files the petition and continue through the time of adjudication of the petition, except when the juvenile court’s jurisdiction over the petitioner terminated solely because: (A) The petitioner was adopted, placed in a permanent guardianship, or another child welfare permanency goal was reached, other than reunification with a parent or parents with whom the court previously found that reunification was not viable; or (B) The petitioner was the subject of a qualifying juvenile court order that was terminated based on age, provided the petitioner was under 21 years of age at the time of filing the petition. (d) Petition requirements. A petitioner must submit all of the following evidence, as applicable to their petition: (1) Petition. A petition by or on behalf of a juvenile, filed on the form prescribed by USCIS in accordance with