USCIS had update their policy manual but the following changes were only recently updated in the regulations in April 2022.

CHANGES TO 8 CFR § 204.11

UNMARRIED

8 CFR § 204.11(b)(2): SIJS applicant now required to remain unmarried only through the adjudication of the SIJS petition, rather than through the adjudication of the subsequent application for adjustment of status.

Prior to the change in the regulations a SIJS applicant had to remain unmarried until they completed their adjustment of status and obtained residency. Under the changed regulations a SIJS applicant can get married once their I-360 petition is approved and while they are waiting for the priority date to become current so they can adjust status.

JUVENILE COURT’S JURISDICTION

8 CFR § 204.11(c)(3)(ii): The juvenile court order must be in effect on the date the applicant files the SIJS petition and continue only through USCIS’s adjudication of the SIJS petition, rather than through the adjudication of the subsequent application for adjustment of status.

8 CFR §204.11(c)(3)(ii) specifies the judicial determinations that the juvenile court order must contain, including: (1) the dependency or custody determination, (2) the determination that the young person cannot reunify with one or both parents due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis under State law, and (3) the best interest determination. For this reason it is important to make sure the juvenile court order should include the “factual basis” for each of the three SIJS findings/judicial determinations as required by 8 CFR § 204.11(d) and should also cite to state law for each of the determinations. 1 If the juvenile court indicates that parental reunification was not viable due to a basis other than abuse, neglect, or abandonment, the applicant must include evidence of how that basis is legally similar to abuse, neglect, or abandonment under state law.

For additional guidance about what to include in the juvenile court order, see 6 USCIS-PM J.3(A)(1).