USCIS Sets Six Requirements for Immigrant Children's Green Card

The Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published a list of six conditions that immigrant children must meet to qualify for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification, which can lead to permanent residency in the United States. This classification is designed for foreign-born children living in the US who have experienced abuse, neglect, or abandonment.

To be eligible, applicants must be under 21 years of age, currently reside in the US, be unmarried, hold a valid juvenile court order from a US state court, be eligible for USCIS consent, and obtain written consent from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), if applicable. The juvenile court order must declare the child dependent on the court or in custody of an individual or agency, and it must establish that reunification with parents is not viable due to abuse or neglect.

Additionally, the court must determine that returning to the child's home country is not in their best interest. Children meeting these conditions can file a petition with USCIS for SIJ classification and subsequently pursue a Green Card.