SIJS Deferred Action Update (July 2026)

In April, we wrote about USCIS's decision to end automatic deferred action for Special Immigrant Juveniles and the important May 10, 2026 filing deadline. You can read that post here: USCIS Policy Change on SIJS Deferred Action: Key Deadlines and Strategic Considerations (April 2026 Update).

Since then, a lot has happened. Many young people with approved SIJS petitions are now receiving a new type of notice from USCIS called an "Amended Approval Notice for Form I-360 Without Deferred Action." If you or your child received one of these notices, this post explains what it means, why it happened, and what may come next.

A Quick Recap: What Is SIJS Deferred Action?

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) protects young people who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by a parent. An approved SIJS petition puts a young person on the path to a green card. The problem is the visa backlog. Because only a limited number of green cards are available each year, many SIJS youth must wait years before they can actually apply.

Starting in 2022, USCIS filled that gap with a policy called deferred action. When a young person's SIJS petition was approved, USCIS would automatically consider granting deferred action, which provided protection from deportation and the ability to apply for a work permit while waiting for a green card.

In June 2025, the government ended that policy. Advocates immediately filed a lawsuit called A.C.R. v. Noem, and in November 2025 a federal court ordered the government to restart deferred action decisions while the case continues. That was good news. But the court's later rulings created an important dividing line based on when a young person's SIJS petition was approved, and that dividing line is what we are seeing play out right now.

Three Dates That Matter

Everything today comes down to three dates. What matters is not when you filed, but when USCIS approved your I-360 petition (with one exception at the end).

1. Approved between April 7, 2025 and June 5, 2025. The court ruled that young people whose SIJS petitions were approved during this window are entitled to the old, favorable standard. Under that standard, an approved SIJS petition counts as a particularly strong positive factor in favor of granting deferred action.

2. Approved on or after June 6, 2025. June 6, 2025 is the date the government publicly announced the end of the deferred action policy. The court ruled that young people approved on or after this date are not entitled to the favorable standard. USCIS still has to consider them for deferred action, but it can decide each case under a much weaker standard, and the SIJS approval itself does not carry special weight.

3. Filed on or after May 10, 2026. As we explained in our April post, USCIS issued a new policy memo (PM-602-0198) that took effect on May 10, 2026. For any SIJS petition filed on or after that date, USCIS will not automatically consider deferred action at all.

What Is Happening Right Now

Group 1 (approved April 7 to June 5, 2025): The news for this group has been mostly positive. The large majority of these young people have received deferred action approvals, and they can apply for work permits the same way SIJS youth did before the policy change. If you are in this group and have not yet applied for your work permit, talk to your attorney about doing so.

Group 2 (approved on or after June 6, 2025): Unfortunately, this is where the painful news is. In recent weeks, USCIS has been issuing Amended Approval Notices to young people in this group, stating that USCIS reviewed the case and decided not to grant deferred action. Attorneys across the country are reporting the same pattern: the denial notices are dated June 2026, they are going to youth approved in the summer and fall of 2025, and they are being issued even when the young person has no negative history at all.

We have seen this in our own practice. The difference between an approval and a denial can be a matter of days. A young person approved on June 5, 2025 falls under the favorable standard. A young person approved on June 10, 2025 does not, even if their case is otherwise identical. This is not about anything you did wrong. It is simply where your approval date landed relative to the court's dividing line.

One important point: an Amended Approval Notice denying deferred action does not cancel your SIJS approval. Your I-360 remains approved, your priority date is preserved, and you are still on the path to a green card once a visa becomes available.

Why There Is Still Hope: The Second Circuit Appeal

The advocates behind the A.C.R. lawsuit did not accept the court's dividing line. In February 2026, they appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, arguing that all SIJS youth, regardless of approval date, are entitled to the favorable standard under which SIJS approval is a strong positive factor.

The Second Circuit agreed to hear the appeal on a fast schedule, and the written arguments were completed in early June 2026. We are now waiting for the court's decision. No one can predict when the ruling will come or what it will say.

But here is what matters: if the appeal succeeds, young people in Group 2 who were denied deferred action should be entitled to a new decision under the favorable standard. In other words, today's denial would not be the final word. The strong positive weight of an approved SIJS petition would apply to them just as it did for Group 1, and based on what we have seen with Group 1, that standard makes a real difference in outcomes.

The Bottom Line

If your SIJS petition was approved between April 7 and June 5, 2025, you should have received or be receiving deferred action, and you can pursue a work permit. If your petition was approved on or after June 6, 2025, you may receive a denial notice like the ones described above, but your SIJS approval remains intact and the pending Second Circuit appeal could open the door to a new, more favorable decision. We are watching this case closely and will post an update as soon as the court rules.

If you or your child received an Amended Approval Notice and you are not sure what it means for your case, contact our office to schedule a consultation.

This post is for general information only and is not legal advice. Every case is unique. Please consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific situation.