The Client came to the United States with a 3-month-old child and initially sought help from a private immigration attorney. When the child turned 20, the client came to NSLAC for assistance. NSLAC’s Immigration team first filed a case in Probate Court to have the client appointed as the child’s legal guardian. The court order included critical language stating that the child had been "abandoned" in Mexico and that returning would be unsafe, as there would be no one there to care for the minor. This language made the child eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), allowing NSLAC to proceed with a petition to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The probate case was filed in July 2024, and by September, the court granted guardianship and included the necessary findings. That same month, NSLAC submitted the SIJS petition (Form I-360) to USCIS. In January 2025, the petition was approved with deferred action, meaning the child could not be deported while waiting for a visa. Although this did not confer immediate immigration status, it offered crucial protection.
The final step is for a visa to become available, a process we expect to take approximately 3–5 years. In the meantime, the client is now eligible for work authorization. NSLAC applied for that authorization in February, and it is currently pending.
After 20 years of living in the U.S. without status, this young person is finally on a path toward stability, legal status, and eventually, U.S. citizenship.
