Adjudication Standards for USCIS Consent and Parental Reunification in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (Matter of D-Y-S-C-)

Validated finding · five-country-2010-20260922-v118-evidence-presentation-fix

CountryUnited States

Operative dateOctober 11, 2019

CategoryLegal protection

Policy toolEligibility

Affected groupVulnerable groups

Policy effect

Designated Matter of D-Y-S-C- as an Adopted Decision establishing binding USCIS policy on consent authority in Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) petitions, requiring evidence that court orders were sought to gain relief from parental maltreatment and not primarily for an immigration benefit, and requiring proof of judicial determinations under state law regarding parental reunification viability. Phase scope: Nationwide across all USCIS field offices and service centers

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

SIJ classification may only be granted upon USCIS' consent to juveniles who meet all other eligibility criteria and establish that they sought the requisite juvenile court or administrative determinations in order to gain relief from parental abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis under state law, and not primarily to obtain an immigration benefit. USCIS' consent is warranted where petitioners show the juvenile court proceedings granted relief from such parental maltreatment, beyond an order enabling them to file an SIJ petition with USCIS. Matter of D-Y-S-C- also clarifies that to establish they cannot reunify with one or both of their parents due to abuse, neglect, abandonment or a similar basis, juveniles must provide evidence of a judicial determination that they were subjected to such parental maltreatment under state law.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration ServicesMatter of D-Y-S-C-, Adopted Decision 2019-02 (AAO Oct. 11, 2019); PM-602-0175.1Open official source

Retrieved from https://courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/courts/default/2024-12/btb25-3k-09.pdf

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

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Adjudication Standards for USCIS Consent and Parental Reunification in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (Matter of D-Y-S-C-)

Policy effect

Official source excerpt

Review method

Other United States changes operative in 2019