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Special Immigrant Juvenile Status & Visa Availability

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status & Visa Availability
Immigrant Youth
In this resource – updated to reflect significant changes to the Visa Bulletin that will impact special immigrant juveniles beginning in April 2023 – we discuss the visa backlog for youth applying for a green card through special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS). We discuss how to determine when your client may apply for a green card and provide practice tips for representing youth seeking SIJS who may face a long wait before they are able to get a green card.

Crafting a Successful SIJS State Court Predicate Order

Immigrant Youth

Level: Intermediate Eligibility for special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS) requires the involvement of a state juvenile court. This webinar will go over what needs to be included in a successful SIJS state court predicate order, looking at guidance...

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California Appellate Law on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
Immigrant Youth
In recent years, California’s appellate courts have provided guidance on the state court’s role in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) cases. The following decisions clarify many of the common questions that these cases present in state courts, including one-parent SIJS, notice and service issues, and the role of the state court
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The Central American Minors (CAM) Program
Immigrant Youth
The Central American Minors program (CAM) is a hybrid refugee and parole program. It benefits minors in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras who have a parent or legal guardian living in the United States under certain forms of immigration status. The program was first introduced in 2014, but was terminated in 2017 under the Trump administration. The Biden administration reinstated the program in 2021 and added new eligibility criteria. This advisory gives an overview of the CAM program including its refugee and parole components, as well as subsequent re-parole applications for existing parolees who wish to maintain their status. Although only a designated refugee resettlement agency may file an initial CAM application, other practitioners play an important role in screening for possible CAM eligibility to make referrals to designated agencies and in assisting current CAM parolees.

Immigrant Youth

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is one of only a few technical assistance organizations nationally and in California with expertise on immigrant youth, including unaccompanied minor (UAC) issues. Undocumented immigrant children are an extremely vulnerable population, especially when they enter foster care, removal proceedings, and/or the juvenile justice system. The ILRC works to expand the rights of these immigrant children through policy and advocacy efforts, numerous in-person and webinar trainings, and case-specific assistance. We also write one of the only national publications addressing immigrant youth issues entitled, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Other Immigration Options for Children & Youth.

Many immigrant youth in the United States may be eligible to apply for lawful immigration status. One of the most common immigration options for immigrant youth is special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS), which is a pathway to a green card for immigrant children who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by one or both of their parents. Other common forms of relief for children include U visas (for children who were victims of crimes), relief under the Violence Against Women Act (for children who were abused by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident parent or spouse), and asylum (for children who are afraid of returning to their home country).

Latest Resources

Practice Advisory
Resources

Expedited Removal and Unaccompanied Children: An FAQ
Publication Date
11/21/2025
This resource – created with our partners at the Children’s Immigration Law Academy and National Immigration Project – answers common questions about expedited removal and its application to children and offers arguments against its application to young people who were processed as UCs and young people with approved special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS), should the government attempt to apply it to those groups.
Practice Advisory
Resources

HR1 Fees at USCIS and EOIR
Publication Date
09/18/2025
This practice advisory provides information about recently implemented fee increases at USCIS and EOIR. These fee increases are a result of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” also known as HR1. This advisory explores what we know and what we still don’t know about the fees, how to pay them, and potential future changes.
Toolkit & Reports
Resources

FOIA Results on SIJS Deferred Action Policy
Publication Date
09/04/2025
On April 15, 2025, the ILRC filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for USCIS records regarding the SIJS Deferred Action Policy. When the government failed to respond in a timely manner, we filed suit. This resource includes all documents we have received from USCIS as a result of the FOIA request, as well as a short summary of the request and results.
Public Comments / Sign-on Letters
Resources

ILRC Comments on Termination of Deferred Action Programs through Form G-325A
Publication Date
07/24/2025
On July 24, 2025, the ILRC submitted a comment strongly opposing the government’s proposed changes to Form G-325A and related policies that end protections for three vulnerable groups: young people with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), stateless individuals, and immigrant workers in the Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement (DALE) program.
Public Comments / Sign-on Letters
Resources

ILRC Comment on Termination of Deferred Action for SIJS
Publication Date
07/28/2025
The ILRC strongly opposes new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policy changes that end deferred action for youth approved for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS).
Public Comments / Sign-on Letters
Resources

ILRC Comment on USCIS Use of Derogatory Information
Publication Date
07/16/2025
On July 16, 2025, ILRC submitted a comment opposing a new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policy that allows the agency to use “derogatory information” against immigration applicants without always disclosing it.
Public Comments / Sign-on Letters
Resources

ILRC Comment on ORR Sharing Sponsor Information with ICE
Publication Date
07/07/2025
On July 7, 2025, the ILRC submitted a comment opposing a new federal rule that changes how the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) handles unaccompanied children.
FAQs & Explainers
Resources

Immigration “Wellness Checks” For Children: What sponsors, household members, and young people need to know

Publication Date
07/16/2025
Community members across the country are reporting visits from immigration and other federal officers seeking to meet with certain children who entered the United States unaccompanied. These children are often referred to as “unaccompanied children” (UCs) because at the time they were arrested by immigration (such as crossing the border), they were not with a parent or legal guardian. Although these visits are sometimes described as “wellness checks,” they are part of a broader, coordinated effort to locate and deport some vulnerable young people and their sponsors. It is crucial for families and immigrant communities to stay informed, exercise their rights, and seek legal support when needed.
Practice Advisory
Resources

Responding to DHS Motions to Recalendar
Publication Date
07/01/2025
In recent months, the Department of Homeland Security has begun filing thousands of motions to recalendar administratively closed proceedings. This trend is raising questions about how attorneys and accredited representatives can respond to these motions and protect their clients’ interests, particularly in cases that have been administratively closed for many years. This advisory explores those questions and offers strategy considerations when determining how to proceed in each case.
Practice Advisory
Resources

Who Has Initial Jurisdiction Over UC Asylum Claims? Matter of M-A-C-O- and JOP v. DHS

Publication Date
04/17/2025
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 confers initial jurisdiction over asylum claims filed by unaccompanied children (UCs) to the asylum office. The Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision in Matter of M-A-C-O-, along with policy changes implemented during the first Trump administration, sought to strip away this crucial protection from many child asylum seekers. Because of these changes and legal challenges by immigrant youth advocates, the current landscape of initial UC asylum jurisdiction has changed. This practice advisory provides an overview of the current state of UC asylum jurisdiction following the Matter of M-A-C-O- decision and the outcome of the JOP v. DHS litigation. It also offers some arguments and practical tips to help practitioners advocate for their UC clients to receive the statutory protections afforded by the TVPRA, as well as the benefits from the JOP v. DHS litigation.
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Related Products

Webinar
Webinar

CSPA: Understanding the Child Status Protection Act
We will review how the CSPA protects certain family-based beneficiaries of immigrant visa petitions and how to calculate the CSPA age. We will also review when the Visa Bulletin is involved, and when and how visa regression affects the CSPA age. Finally, we will touch on the rules regarding recapturing priority dates, discuss strategies for clients in danger of “aging out” who may not be protected by CSPA, and address a recent USCIS policy update pertaining to CSPA.
Webinar
Webinar

Introduction to Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS)
This webinar will provide an introduction to special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS) - a unique path to immigration status for young people under the age of 21. We will provide an overview of the legal requirements and process of seeking SIJS and SIJS-based adjustment of status, all the way from state juvenile court to adjustment of status.
Webinar
Webinar

Crafting a Successful SIJS State Court Predicate Order
Level: Intermediate

Eligibility for special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS) requires the involvement of a state juvenile court. This webinar will go over what needs to be included in a successful SIJS state court predicate order, looking at guidance contained in the USCIS Policy Manual and the new SIJS regulations. We will then take a more detailed look at successful state court orders in both California and Texas as a way to see this guidance in action.

Presenters
Rachel Prandini - Staff Attorney, ILRC

Rachel is one of ILRC’s staff attorneys based in San Francisco. Rachel focuses on immigrant youth issues, including unaccompanied minors and immigrant youth in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Rachel provides technical assistance and trainings to immigration and state court attorneys, social workers, and judges. She works on statewide and national policy that affects the rights of immigrant youth and is frequently consulted for her expertise in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Rachel co-authored the ILRC’s publication Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Other Immigration Options for Children and Youth.

Prior to joining the ILRC, Rachel represented detained and released unaccompanied minors in removal defense and led a project focusing on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status at Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project in Los Angeles. While at Esperanza, Rachel also performed "Know Your Rights" work in southern California immigration detention centers for minors. Previously, Rachel worked as an associate at Paul Hastings, LLP and volunteered as a Child Advocate for unaccompanied minors.

Rachel earned her law degree from the University of California at Davis, where she was a member of the Immigration Law Clinic and worked on complex deportation defense cases and detention issues. She received her undergraduate degree from Westmont College, where she double-majored in philosophy and political science. Rachel is admitted to the bar in California. She is conversant in Spanish.

Dalia Castillo-Granados - Co-Founder and Director, Children’s Immigration Law Academy (CILA)

Dalia Castillo-Granados is the co-founder and director of the Children’s Immigration Law Academy (CILA), a project of the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Immigration. Dalia is a frequent speaker on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) and led the effort at the ABA to advocate for deferred action for SIJS youth stuck in the visa backlog. Prior to working at CILA, Dalia was a senior attorney at Kids in Need of Defense, a staff attorney at Tahirih Justice Center, a clinical supervising attorney at the University of Houston’s Immigration Clinic, and a Greenberg Traurig, LLP Equal Justice Works fellow at Catholic Charities’ Cabrini Center. Throughout her career, Dalia has represented hundreds of children in their immigration proceedings and before Texas state courts.

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status

Immigrant Youth

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Other Immigration Options for Children and Youth is an essential guide for those representing the increased number of unaccompanied minors who have migrated to the United States in recent years, as well as those...

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