Introduction
USCIS approved 28,863 Special Immigrant Juvenile petitions during the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, covering October 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026. The agency’s Office of Performance and Quality released the quarterly I-360 SIJ data in response to congressional reporting requirements established under the Consolidated Appropriations Acts of 2023 and 2024. For advocates, attorneys, and families navigating the Special Immigrant Juvenile classification, these figures offer a concrete look at current approval volumes, denial rates, and processing timelines — all of which directly shape case strategy and planning.
Background
The Special Immigrant Juvenile classification exists to protect children in the United States who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned and who cannot be reunited with one or both parents. An eligible juvenile must first obtain a predicate order from a state juvenile court establishing dependency or a similar legal status and making specific findings about the child’s best interests. Once that state court order is in place, the child or their representative files Form I-360 with USCIS to seek federal recognition of SIJ status. Approval of the I-360 is a prerequisite for the child to later pursue lawful permanent residence. Congress mandated quarterly public reporting of SIJ adjudication data as part of appropriations legislation specifically to provide transparency into how USCIS is managing this caseload.
What Is Changing
This release does not announce a policy change. Rather, it provides a statistical snapshot of SIJ petition activity during the first half of fiscal year 2026. USCIS approved 28,863 petitions and denied 1,206 across the six-month period. The overall approval rate for the quarter was approximately 96 percent, with denials accounting for roughly four percent of completed adjudications.
Processing times varied meaningfully across the period. Approved petitions averaged 178.1 days from filing to decision, while denied petitions averaged 239.4 days — a difference of more than two months. Month-by-month data shows a consistent upward trend in processing time for approvals, rising from 164 days in October 2025 to 193.5 days in March 2026. Denial processing times followed a similar upward trajectory, climbing from 224.5 days in October to 256.7 days in March. USCIS notes that some petitions resolved during this period may have been filed in earlier quarters, which is standard for any backlog-based adjudication environment.
Who Is Affected
The individuals most directly affected by this data are the children currently holding pending I-360 petitions or preparing to file. These are minors — many of whom are in foster care, under guardianship, or involved in state dependency proceedings — for whom the I-360 outcome is foundational to their immigration futures. Because SIJ status confers eligibility for a green card, delays in adjudication have downstream effects on a child’s ability to obtain work authorization upon aging out, adjust status, and access stable immigration protection before turning 21.
Attorneys representing SIJ petitioners are directly affected by the processing time data, which informs how they advise clients on realistic timelines and when to begin preparing adjustment of status filings. Nonprofit organizations, child welfare agencies, and guardians ad litem who assist unaccompanied or at-risk minors also benefit from understanding current adjudication patterns. Employers and HR professionals are not a primary audience for this specific data, as SIJ is a humanitarian classification rather than an employment-based one.
Practical Implications
The most operationally significant figure in this dataset is the average processing time for approvals: 178.1 days across the full quarter, with March approvals averaging 193.5 days. That trend line matters. A child whose state court order was recently finalized and who files an I-360 today should expect a processing window in the range of six months or longer under current conditions, and the month-over-month data suggests that window may be continuing to expand rather than contract.
The gap between approval processing times and denial processing times is also worth noting. Cases that ultimately result in denials are taking roughly two months longer than approvals to resolve. This likely reflects the additional procedural steps — Requests for Evidence and Notices of Intent to Deny — that precede a negative outcome. The dataset confirms that RFEs and NOIDs are tracked separately but does not provide their volume in this excerpt, so practitioners cannot draw precise conclusions about RFE rates from this data alone.
For children approaching age 21, the processing timeline has urgent practical significance. SIJ eligibility is tied to juvenile court jurisdiction, which in most states ends at 21. A petition filed close to that threshold must be approved before the child ages out of eligibility — a risk that the current processing window makes very real for late-filing cases. Attorneys and advocates working with older juveniles should treat these processing averages as a planning benchmark, not a guarantee, and factor in potential delays when advising on filing timing.
One area where further public data would be useful is geographic or field office variation in processing times. The quarterly report aggregates nationally, so it does not reveal whether certain USCIS offices are processing faster or slower than the average — information that can be relevant for jurisdictional strategy in some cases.
What to Watch For Next
USCIS is expected to release Q3 FY2026 data covering April through June 2026 later this calendar year, consistent with the congressional reporting schedule. Advocates and practitioners should monitor whether the upward trend in processing times continues, stabilizes, or reverses in that next release. Any policy changes affecting SIJ adjudication priorities, staffing, or RFE issuance practices would likely show up in the quarterly data before being formally announced, making these reports a useful leading indicator for practitioners managing active caseloads.
How Immigration Professional Association Can Help
Immigration Professional Association has substantial experience working with children and families navigating the Special Immigrant Juvenile process, from the state court stage through I-360 filing and ultimately adjustment of status. The current processing timeline data underscores how much case preparation and timing strategy matter — particularly for juveniles who are approaching age 21 or whose state court jurisdiction is at risk of expiring.
Our team understands the intersection of state family law proceedings and federal immigration filings that makes SIJ cases uniquely complex. We work closely with child welfare advocates, guardians, and state court practitioners to ensure that the federal immigration filing is coordinated with — not delayed by — the underlying court process.
If you are working with a child who may qualify for Special Immigrant Juvenile status, or if you have an I-360 petition pending and want to understand what the current processing landscape means for your specific situation, we encourage you to reach out to Immigration Professional Association. The stakes in these cases are high, and having informed legal guidance during what can be a lengthy adjudication process makes a genuine difference.
