SIJS Part Two

In the prior post we explored the general points of the SIJS process. The ultimate goal of the process is to allow the immigrant “juvenile” to apply for and qualify for their Permanent Legal Residence.

But what exactly is a Juvenile? USICS determines a Juvenile for these purposes as someone under 21 years old (there are other factors that will emancipate a juvenile and affect their ability to apply but we will explore that at a later installment of this series.) So you may be thinking, a 20 year old is a juvenile and qualifies for application for this process? A 19 year old? an 18 year old? The answer to that is YES, MAYBE, DEPENDS.Likely you are saying to yourself “This is a non answer, how can this age requirement be ambiguous, it is either under 21 or not.

The answer varies not from the federal side of the but rather from the state in which the immigrant lives. The age of getting an audience for family court purposes (which in part one of this series we found is one of the requirements for application) varies by states. Some states say that under 21 is acceptable for the family courts to consider a case for guardianship of custody. Some states say under 20 years of age is acceptable, some under 19 and still some under 18.

We have made it easy for you by listing all of the states and their respective maximum age. Kindly note that this means that you must be under the age limit listed.