CA9 upholds permanent injunction. The Ninth Circuit declare the district court’s division of a permanent order in Moreno Galvez v. Jaddou, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to decide Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) request within 180 days of filing. The court also vacated a plan SIJ candidate to toll the lawful. USCIS has sole jurisdiction over petitions for special immigrant juvenile (SIJ) classification. Provided the petitioner is otherwise eligible, classification as an SIJ establishes eligibility to apply for adjustment of status. In general, USCIS issues a decision on a properly filed petition for SIJ classification within 180 days. The 180-day timeframe begins on the Notice of Action (Form I-797) receipt date. If the petitioner did not submit all required initial evidence with the petition, and USCIS issues a request for initial evidence, the timeframe is reset and the 180 days starts over from the date of receipt of the required initial evidence. The clock resumes at the same point where it stopped once USCIS receives the requested evidence, a response, or a request for a decision based on the evidence.

The 180-day timeframe applies only to the initial adjudication of the SIJ petition. The requirement does not extend to the adjudication of any motion or appeal filed after a denial of an SIJ petition.