Special Immigrant Juvenile Status provides a path to a green card for people under the age of 21 who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned by one or both parents.
To get Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, a state court Judge has to make some factual determinations about your status. The Judge must decide that you are dependent on a juvenile court, or place you in the legal custody of the state or someone else (like a family member or foster parent).
The Judge must also determine that it is not in your best interest to return to your home country, and that you cannot be reunified with one or both of your parents because of abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis found in state law.
🛑 Important update: since June 2025, the government no longer grants "deferred action" or work permits to approved SIJS applicants who are waiting in the green card backlog.
SIJS can still lead to a green card, but because of yearly limits there is a long wait after approval — and that wait now comes without protection from deportation and without permission to work. An attorney should help you plan for that gap.