Youth and Family Immigration
LCYC partners with immigrant rights organizations and attorneys to support unaccompanied immigrant youth and young adults in applying for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification.
Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) Classification
Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) is a classification that provides undocumented young people a youth visa, work authorization, and path to United States citizenship.
To be eligible for SIJ classification, a young person must:
be under age 21,
be unmarried,
have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by at least one parent, and
it is in their best interests to not return to their home country.
ACCESSING SIJ LEGAL SERVICES
Partnership with an immigration attorney is necessary to pursue SIJ classification with LCYC. The immigration attorney must confirm the young person’s eligibility for SIJ classification and provide representation in federal court.
Obtaining SIJ classification is a two step process, the first in state court, then the second in federal court. After an immigration attorney confirms that a young person is eligible for SIJ classification, an LCYC attorney can begin the state court process. The first step is for a state court to determine that a young person has been abused, abandoned, or neglected, and is “dependent” under state law. Dependency cases, or child welfare cases, are one of LCYC’s four main practice areas.
After a young person has been declared dependent in state court, an immigration attorney files a petition in federal court to request SIJ classification.
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Have your immigration attorney submit a referral using one of the forms below.
Referral form for clients seeking SIJ classification through a Vulnerable Youth Guardianship (VYG).
Referral form for clients seeking SIJ classification through a dependency.
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Submit a referral to Northwest Immigrants Rights Project (NWIRP) by emailing childrenintake@nwirp.org. After a NWIRP attorney determines you are eligible for SIJ classification, they will connect with our team to carry out the process.
IMMIGRANT SAFETY PLAN
In addition to direct services, LCYC offers an Immigrant Safety Plan for Youth and Children to empower immigrant parents and reduce childhood trauma, coordinated by Director of Legal Services, Midori “Chach” Duarte White. Many thanks to the students and alumni from the University of Washington and Seattle University School of Law Latina/o Student Associations who helped to create this critical resource.