This manual begins with an introduction to the federal SIJS laws and regulations and California laws and family court actions related to SIJS. Chapter 2 then discusses how to assess a potential case in family court, including legal and client-specific considerations prior to filing an action. The next two chapters discuss the two most important types of family court actions for purposes of obtaining SIJ findings: Chapter 3 provides an overview of filing a parentage action, while Chapter 4 outlines the filing of a custody action.6 Chapter 5 talks about preparing for a Request for Order (“RFO”) hearing, and then getting final orders by taking a case to judgment. Chapter 6 describes in detail how to obtain SIJ findings, including what it will take both for a judge to issue the findings and for USCIS to accept those findings as sufficient for federal immigration purposes. Finally, Chapter 7 discusses when and how to file a writ or appeal. The manual ends with samples and checklists for practitioners to use throughout the course of a family court case for easy reference and to make sure that the case remains on track when seeking SIJ findings.
