What Is Form I-360? Who Qualifies and How to File

Form I-360, the Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, is a USCIS petition that lets people in several specific situations ask to be classified as a special immigrant, which is a step toward a green card. It exists for people who don’t fit the standard family-sponsored or employment-based paths: survivors of abuse by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, certain children in state custody, surviving spouses of U.S. citizens, religious workers sponsored by a nonprofit religious organization, and a handful of narrower groups. The general filing fee is $515, several categories pay nothing, and the petition can only be filed by mail.¹

Who Can File

Form I-360 covers a set of unrelated categories that share only the form itself. The ones people file most often are:

VAWA self-petitioners — spouses, children, or parents abused by a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family member.
Special Immigrant Juveniles — children in the United States who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned by a parent and placed under court or state custody.
Widows and widowers of U.S. citizens who file within two years of the citizen spouse’s death.
Religious workers — ministers and other religious professionals sponsored by a nonprofit religious organization.
Amerasians born in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea (Cambodia), or Thailand between January 1, 1951, and October 22, 1982, fathered by a U.S. citizen.
Afghan and Iraqi translators who worked with U.S. armed forces or the U.S. government during designated conflict periods.
Certain G-4 international organization employees and their family members.

Narrower groups use the same form too, including Panama Canal employees, certain physicians, U.S. armed forces members, and international broadcasters.¹ What follows focuses on the four categories most people file under.

VAWA Self-Petitioners

The Violence Against Women Act lets an abused spouse, child, or parent file Form I-360 on their own, without the abuser’s knowledge or sponsorship. To qualify, you have to show a qualifying relationship (spouse, child, or parent) with a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, battery or extreme cruelty by that relative, and that you lived with the abuser at some point. If you’re filing as a spouse, you also have to show the marriage was entered into in good faith.²

Federal law bars USCIS, the State Department, and other agencies from disclosing information about a VAWA petition outside of sworn officers handling the case, and immigration officials cannot use information from the abuser to deny the petition unless you’ve been convicted of certain serious crimes.³

Once your VAWA petition is approved, you become eligible for a work permit. If you asked for one on your Form I-360, USCIS can issue it automatically under category code (c)(31).⁴

Special Immigrant Juveniles

SIJ classification protects children in the United States who cannot safely reunify with one or both parents because of abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Before you file Form I-360, you need a state juvenile court order that makes three specific findings: that the child has been declared dependent on the court or placed in the custody of a state agency or court-appointed individual; that reunification with one or both parents is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis under state law; and that returning the child to their home country, or the parent’s country of nationality, would not be in the child’s best interest.⁵

The petitioner also has to be under 21, unmarried, and physically present in the United States when the petition is filed. USCIS has to consent to the classification, which it does by approving the petition, and it can withhold consent if the evidence suggests the court’s findings were obtained mainly for immigration purposes rather than genuine child welfare reasons.

Widows and Widowers of U.S. Citizens

If your U.S. citizen spouse has died, you can file Form I-360 as a widow or widower, but the timing is strict. You have to file within two years of the death, your spouse must have been a U.S. citizen when they died, and you cannot have been legally separated at the time of death.¹

Remarriage generally ends eligibility. There is one exception: if your deceased spouse had already filed a Form I-130 for you before dying, USCIS automatically converts that petition to a Form I-360, and under INA Section 204(l), USCIS may be able to approve the original I-130 even if you have remarried.⁶

Religious Workers

For a religious worker, the petition is filed by the U.S. employer, which has to be a bona fide nonprofit religious organization. The worker will serve full time as a minister, in a religious vocation, or in a religious occupation, must have been a member of the sponsoring denomination for at least two years before filing, and must have been continuously working in one of those religious roles for at least two years.¹

The sponsoring organization has to submit a current IRS determination letter showing tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, along with IRS documentation of the worker’s pay, such as W-2 forms or tax returns. If IRS records aren’t available, the organization has to explain why and provide other verifiable evidence of compensation.⁷

What to Send With the Petition

Every I-360 petition needs your full legal name, any aliases, your current address, and a history of your entries into the United States. If you have an Alien Registration Number from a prior filing, include it. Everything else depends on the category.

VAWA self-petitioners submit evidence of the abuser’s U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status (a passport, naturalization certificate, or green card copy), proof of the qualifying relationship (a marriage or birth certificate), evidence of having lived with the abuser, and documentation of the abuse. Abuse evidence can include police reports, medical records, protection orders, photographs, or personal declarations.

Special Immigrant Juveniles submit the qualifying state juvenile court order, a birth certificate, and evidence supporting the court’s findings. Religious worker petitions need the IRS tax-exemption letter, evidence of the worker’s two-year membership and employment, and a detailed job description from the sponsoring organization.⁷ Widow(er) petitioners submit a death certificate for the U.S. citizen spouse, a marriage certificate, and proof of the spouse’s citizenship at the time of death.

Any document not in English needs a full English translation. The translator has to certify in writing that the translation is complete and accurate and that they are competent in both languages, and the certification has to include their name, signature, address, and date. A professional translation service isn’t required. Anyone competent in both languages can do it as long as the certification is included.

Filing Fees

The general filing fee is $515, but several categories don’t pay it.⁸

VAWA self-petitioners: no fee.
Amerasians: no fee.
Special Immigrant Juveniles: no standard I-360 fee, but a separate $250 fee applies under Public Law 119-21, and that fee cannot be waived.⁹
Religious workers: $515.
Widow(er) petitioners: $515.

If you owe the $515 but can’t afford it, you can request a fee waiver on Form I-912. You qualify by showing that you currently receive a means-tested public benefit such as Medicaid or SNAP, that your household income is below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, or that you face financial hardship. Documentation has to include your name, the granting agency, the type of benefit, and proof the benefit is currently active.¹⁰ The $250 SIJ fee under Public Law 119-21 stays payable even if you qualify for a waiver of other fees.

How and Where to File

Form I-360 is not available for online filing. You send the completed petition, all supporting evidence, and the correct fee (if any) in one package to a USCIS Lockbox. The exact mailing address depends on your eligibility category, so check the direct filing addresses on the USCIS website before you mail. Use a shipping method with tracking so you can confirm delivery.

What Happens After You File

Once the Lockbox receives your petition, you should get a Form I-797C, Notice of Action, within about 30 days.¹¹ The receipt notice confirms USCIS has accepted the petition for processing and gives you a 13-character receipt number for tracking. It doesn’t mean the petition has been approved, only that USCIS has it.¹²

After that, USCIS may schedule a biometrics appointment at a local Application Support Center to collect fingerprints, a photograph, and your signature for background and security checks.

VAWA self-petitioners get an extra interim step: a prima facie determination notice, issued when USCIS finds that the initial evidence appears to address each eligibility requirement. That notice can help you access certain public benefits while the full case is still being reviewed, though the benefit-granting agency makes the final call on what you qualify for.⁴ It typically arrives within a few months of filing, though timing varies.

Eventually USCIS issues a written decision approving or denying the petition.

Getting a Green Card After Approval

An approved Form I-360 does not, by itself, give you a green card. It classifies you as eligible for one. The next step is usually Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. In some cases you can file the I-485 at the same time as the I-360, which is called concurrent filing.¹³

Concurrent filing is allowed when an immigrant visa number is immediately available. For VAWA self-petitioners, that’s the case if the abusive spouse or parent is a U.S. citizen, since immediate relative visas are always current, or if a visa number is otherwise available. For other I-360 categories, check the monthly Visa Bulletin to see whether your priority date, generally the date the I-360 was properly filed, falls before the cutoff for your preference category.¹⁴ VAWA self-petitioners and Special Immigrant Juveniles pay no I-485 filing fee.⁸

Two of the most common categories also get relief from the public charge rule that can otherwise block a green card for someone considered likely to become primarily dependent on public benefits. VAWA self-petitioners are exempt from the public charge ground and from the ground of inadmissibility for entering without inspection.¹⁵ Special Immigrant Juveniles are exempt from the public charge ground as well. Receiving Medicaid, food assistance, or similar benefits won’t count against these applicants at the green card stage.

Traveling While Your Petition Is Pending

Leaving the United States while you have a pending I-360 or a pending Form I-485 carries real risk. If you leave without first getting a travel document called advance parole, USCIS may treat your pending adjustment application as abandoned and deny it.¹⁶ Even with proper documentation, re-entry is not guaranteed. If travel is on the table, apply for advance parole before you go and talk to an immigration attorney about the risks specific to your category.

If USCIS Denies the Petition

You generally have the right to appeal a denial, but the office that handles the appeal depends on your category. For most I-360 categories, appeals go to the USCIS Administrative Appeals Office (AAO), filed on Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion. The deadline is 30 days from the date of the denial, or 33 days if the decision was mailed to you.¹⁷

Widow(er) denials go a different way. Those appeals go to the Board of Immigration Appeals, not the AAO, and use Form EOIR-29 instead of Form I-290B.¹⁸ Deadlines are short and the procedural rules are strict; filing late or with the wrong office can end your case for good.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-360, Instructions for Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1154 – Procedure for Granting Immigrant Status
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1367 – Penalties for Disclosure of Information
4
USCIS. National Engagement – VAWA I-360 Self-Petition, T Visa and U Visa – Q and A
5
eCFR. 8 CFR 204.11 – Special Immigrant Juvenile Classification
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 2 – Religious Workers
8
USCIS. G-1055 Fee Schedule
9
Federal Register. USCIS Immigration Fees Required by HR-1 Reconciliation Bill
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-912, Request for Fee Waiver
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. e-Request – Non-Delivery of Notice
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797C, Notice of Action
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Concurrent Filing of Form I-485
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Visa Availability and Priority Dates
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card for VAWA Self-Petitioner
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Travel Documents
17
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-290B, Instructions for Notice of Appeal or Motion
18
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO)