The Board of Immigration Appeals has determined that an Immigration Judge erred by granting administrative closure to an applicant for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) who did not provide prima facie evidence of eligibility. “Submitting the juvenile court order is particularly important to establishing prima facie eligibility because we otherwise have no way of knowing whether the respondent is subject to a juvenile court order that satisfies the regulatory requirements at 8 C.F.R. § 204.11(c)(1) and (d)(3) and whether a competent court or agency made the best-interest determination required by 8 C.F.R. § 204.11(c)(2)(i).”
“Moreover, even if the respondent had established eligibility for special immigrant juvenile classification, the indeterminate and likely lengthy period of time until he would be eligible to adjust status if his petition were ultimately approved by USCIS also strongly militates against administrative closure.3 The priority date for the respondent’s visa petition is April 23, 2025. As explained above, visas for special immigrant juveniles are only currently available to aliens who filed their petitions prior to July 1, 2020. Considering the extensive, nearly 5-year gap between the currently eligible priority date and the respondent’s priority date, it is not realistic to expect the respondent to become eligible for relief from removal based on his special immigrant juvenile petition within a ‘reasonably short period of time.’ Thus, we conclude that administrative closure based on the respondent’s potential eligibility for adjustment of status at some remote time in the future is inappropriate.”
The full text of Matter of Cahuec Tzalam can be found here: