SIJ Approval for Salvadoran Teen Despite Father Missing From Birth Certificate

Our Boston immigration lawyers established paternity through Massachusetts Probate and Family Court proceedings, obtained the court findings needed for his SIJ petition, and secured approval from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

For Jon Carlos and his mother, the approval was an important step toward a more stable future together in Massachusetts.

A Childhood Marked by Parental Abandonment in El Salvador

Jon Carlos was born in El Salvador. He was told that his mother was a single teenager and that shortly after his birth she left the country to find work to support him. His father who lived in El Salvador, never had any contact with him, and never provided him with any assistance.

From the time of his birth, he was moved between family members, cousins, aunt or uncles, but occasionally family that was even more distant.

The area in which Jon Carlos lived was impoverished. Children regularly had to work on farms and in local businesses, and Jon Carlos was no different, so schooling was irregular after he was 10 years old.

The work he had to do was hard for a child his age. The hours were long, and the pay was poor, so adequate nutrition and clothing seemed consistently beyond his reach.

When he had the opportunity to attend school, which was usually because he was sent to a relative who had young children who were not required to work, he enjoyed it. Even with the limited time that he spent in school he learned to read and basic arithmetic.

The Difficult Journey to the U.S. Arranged by Others

When Jon Carlos was 14 years old, he was told that arrangements were made for him to travel to the U.S., and he believed that money sent to his relatives by his mother was what made it possible.

The journey was terribly difficult.  There were prolonged periods of walking on paths that seemed to be endless, and there was not always access to clean water.  He was carrying a single bag with all his belongings that seemed to get heavier by the day.

Eventually he arrived in the U.S. It was in the middle of the night, and he crossed a river with a group of more than 20 people, several of them even younger than him.  When he got to the other side, he was surprised that the U.S. looked the same as the region of Mexico that they had been in.

He was taken to a city and then he was introduced to a person that said they knew his family in Boston. He traveled by bus for 5 days and arrived in the city of Framingham, MA.  There he was met by a woman he recognized immediately as his mother, Vanda.

Vanda had struggled for years to be reunited with her son. She had dutifully sent money to El Salvador, hoping that he would be cared for and educated there until they could be together again.

Vanda understood the challenges that people had in the U.S. when they did not have any lawful status, and she wanted Jon Carlos to have a different experience.

Exploring Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in Massachusetts

Vanda had heard about a program for children that would allow them to have lawful immigration status in the U.S. and so she made an appointment at FitzGerald Law Company to find out if Jon Carlos would qualify.

The Immigration & Nationality Act has a provision that allows immigrant children in the U.S. who do not have Lawful Permanent Resident status and who have been abandoned by one of their parents to obtain residency as a Special Immigrant Juvenile or SIJ, so when the attorneys at FitzGerald Law Company met with Vanda, they believed that Jon Carlos would qualify for this status.

Our immigration attorneys for SIJ explained to Vanda that there would be several steps to complete the process.  Jon Carlos would have to complete multiple procedures in the Probate and Family Court and then with USCIS, and it could take a substantial time, but this was clearly a path that could lead her child to lawful status in the U.S.

They also explained to Vanda that when Jon Carlos was finally granted Lawful Permanent Resident status, or even U.S. Citizenship, she would never qualify for any immigration benefit as a result of being his mother.

Vanda did not care that she would never qualify for any benefits, she only wanted her son to have permanent status in a country where he was safe and where she could support him.

The Legal Challenge of a Father Missing From the Birth Certificate

Despite the fact that there was fairly compelling evidence that Jon Carlos had been completely abandoned by his father, a man named Franscico Alejandro from Pasaquina, and that he had suffered a great deal as a result of the abandonment, the case was not simple.

His parents were not married, and his father did not appear on his Birth Certificate, so the attorneys at FitzGerald Law Company need to establish legally that Franscico Alejandro was his father before the Court could take jurisdiction of an SIJ Petition for Jon Carlos.

How Our Attorneys Established Paternity and Obtained SIJ Qualification

Attorney FitzGerald obtained an affidavit from Vanda, which detailed precisely how she knew that Franscico Alejandro was the father of Jon Carlos. Then Attorney FitzGerald obtained statements from Vanda and other family members about the area in El Salvador in which Franscico Alejandro lived.

A request was submitted to the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court to allow notice of the legal claim to establish Franscico Alejandro was Jon Carlos’ father to be published in the El Salvadorian newspaper, La Prensa Gráfica, because it is widely distributed in Pasaquina, and the request was approved.

FitzGerald Law Company prepared the court notices in Spanish and English, and they were published in La Prensa Gráfica, which allowed the Court to enter a ruling that Franscico Alejandro was the father, and then a ruling that not only had Jon Carlos been abandoned by his father, but also returning to El Salvador was not in Jon Carlo’s best interest and that he qualified for status as a Special Immigrant Juvenile.

USCIS Approved the Special Immigrant Juvenile Petition

With the ruling from the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court, Attorney FitzGerald, filed an I-360, Petition for Special Immigrant Juvenile status with USCIS for Jon Carlos.

Four months after the petition was filed, USCIS issued a decision stating that Jon Carlos’ petition was approved, and that he would be granted “deferred action” to remain in the U.S. for the next 4 years.

Jon Carlos was allowed to obtain a work permit or an EAD (Employment Authorization Document) which qualified him to obtain a Social Security Number.

Jon Carlos, who had survived with very little for so long, now had a parent to mind him, access to health insurance through his mother’s job, a Social Security Number, a lawful identification card, permission to remain in the U.S. and a world of opportunities before him.

Learn more about Special Immigrant Juvenile classification and how our Boston immigration lawyers can help.

Speak With Our SIJ Immigration Lawyers in Boston MA

If your child or a child you know has experienced parental abuse, neglect, or abandonment, you may have questions about immigration protection – even when important family records are incomplete.

FitzGerald Law Company has more than 30 years of immigration experience. Our attorneys can review the child’s circumstances, identify documentation issues, and explain the court and immigration steps that may apply.

Every case is different. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.