Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS)

SIJS – Challenges & Obstacles

  • Children testifying about traumatizing events
  • Translation difficulties
  • Personal process service that may impact certain non-citizen parents who are either located abroad or are hesitant to participate in the family court process due to immigration status or other immigration concerns
  • Parties are often located abroad or are afraid of participating
  • Limited written documentation (i.e. only newspaper articles, vital records)
  • Limited infrastructure in home country (Child protective agencies that are non-existent and/or unavailable)
  • Potential dangers facing child (retaliation against child or other family members)
  • Lack of funds to order foreign investigations and/or lack of persons or agencies capable of conducting foreign investigations
  • Pro bono counsel, assigned counsel, and pro se petitioners may not be familiar with the law or local court procedures