For a child to obtain SIJS, a U.S. state juvenile court or State court (such as a probate court that awards guardianship) must:
- Make the child dependent on the court (or place the child under the legal custody of a state agency or other individual appointed by the state or individual appointed by the state); and
- Declare that the child cannot be reunited with one or both of his or her parents due to abuse, abandonment or neglect; and
- Find that it is not in the best interests of the child to be returned to his country of citizenship.
From a timing standpoint, the SIJS application with USCIS can be filled concurrently with the green card application, granting the child a work permit (a way to a state ID and social security card) within 3 months on average while the case is pending with CIS.Immigration based on adoption would take much longer and in some cases would require the adopting U.S. citizen(s) to travel to the foreign country and stay there for some time and finalize an adoption abroad. There is also a physical custody requirement of two years with the adopting parents to formalize the adoption for immigration purposes. Another difficult issue has been when to permit the biological mother of a child born out of wedlock to release her child for foreign adoption without the consent of the biological father, if the mother cannot provide proper care. This is difficult because the father could be out of the child’s life or worse, be unwilling to consent.
Another benefit of SIJS is that the court can retain jurisdiction over the child even past the age of 18 whereas if a couple adopts a child for immigration purposes, the adoption must be legally final by the age of 16. For SIJS to be successful, it is advisable to work with both a probate or juvenile court attorney and an immigration attorney who can work together on the case.
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Attorney Heather L. Poole practices exclusively in the area of U.S. family-based immigration law and citizenship law. Heather is a nationally-published immigration author, frequent lecturer on immigration issues, and member & officer of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Southern California Chapter. For more information about Heather and the services offered, visit www.humanrightsattorney.com
Nice informative post dear. some useful information about Green Card For Child to share
Question, we have a young lady we (natural citizens) want to adopt. The system took too long and she “aged out” in March. She has lived here all her life and has her green card. What is the process now to her citizenship?
We will be adopting her younger sisters, one is 16 and an immigrant without her green card. Will the adoption give her citizenship?
We are just trying to figure out this Special Immigration Status and the social workers seem clueless.
Thank you,
Seanna