fecting or involving a client who is an unaccompanied alien
child.
SEC. 303. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This title shall become effective 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act. The provisions of this title
shall apply to all unaccompanied children in the custody
of the Department of Justice on, before, or after the date
of enactment of this Act.
TITLE 
IV—STRENGTHENING
POLICIES FOR PERMANENT
PROTECTION OF ALIEN CHIL-
DREN
SEC. 401. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE VISA.
(a) J VISA.—Section 101(a)(27)(J) (8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(27)(J)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(J) an immigrant who is present in the United
States—
‘‘(i) who has been declared dependent on a
juvenile court located in the United States or
whom such a court has legally committed to, or
placed under the custody of, a department or
agency of a State, or an individual or entity ap-
pointed by a State, and who has been deemed
eligible by that court for long-term foster care
due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment, or a
similar basis found under State law;
‘‘(ii) for whom it has been determined in
administrative or judicial proceedings that it
would not be in the alien’s best interest to be
returned to the alien’s or parent’s previous
country of nationality or country of last habit-
ual residence; and
‘‘(iii) for whom the Office of Children’s
Services of the Department of Justice has cer-
tified to the Commissioner that the classifica-
tion of an alien as a special immigrant under
this subparagraph has not been made solely to
provide an immigration benefit to that alien;
except that no natural parent or prior adoptive par-
ent of any alien provided special immigrant status
under this subparagraph shall thereafter, by virtue
of such parentage, be accorded any right, privilege,
or status under this Act;’’.
(b) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—Section 245(h)(2) (8
U.S.C. 1255(h)(2)) is amended—
(1) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as
follows:
‘‘(A) paragraphs (1), (4), (5), (6), and
(7)(A) of section 212(a) shall not apply,’’;
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period
and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph:
‘‘(C) the Attorney General may waive
paragraphs (2)(A) and (2)(B) in the case of an
offense which arose as a consequence of the
child being unaccompanied.’’.
(c) TRANSITION RULE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—An alien described in para-
graph (2) who files an application under section
101(a)(27)(J), as amended by subsection (a), before
the end of the period described in paragraph (3)
shall not be denied such visa solely on the basis of
the alien’s age and state of emancipation at the time
of final adjudication of the application.
(2) 
CRITERIA
FOR
TRANSITIONAL
ELIGI-
BILITY.—Paragraph (1) shall apply to an alien who,
on or after November 29, 1990, was under the juris-
diction of State-licensed foster care and who—
(A) was a dependent of a juvenile court or
other court of competent jurisdiction on or after
such date;
(B) was emancipated from such State fos-
ter care system on or before the date of enact-
ment of this Act; and
(C) with respect to whom no application
for a visa under section 101(a)(27)(J) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act was filed prior
to the date of enactment of this Act.
(3) PERIOD OF APPLICABILITY.—No alien may
apply for relief under this section later than three
years after the effective date of this title or two
years after the promulgation of any regulation im-
plementing this title, whichever is later.
SEC. 402. TRAINING FOR OFFICIALS WHO COME INTO CON-
TACT WITH UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHIL-
DREN.
The Attorney General, acting jointly with the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services, shall provide train-
ing for State and county officials, such training to be
available to child welfare specialists, teachers, public coun-
sel, juvenile counsel, and juvenile judges who come into
contact with unaccompanied alien children. The training
shall provide education on the processes pertaining to un-
accompanied alien children with pending immigration sta-
tus and the available relief. The Director shall be respon-
sible for establishing a core curriculum that can be incor-
porated into currently existing education, training, or ori-
entation modules or formats that are currently used by
these professionals.
SEC. 403. CHILD STATUS PROTECTION.
(a) IMMIGRANT VISA ISSUANCE FOR CHILDREN WHO
AGE-OUT WHILE AWAITING PROCESSING OF IMMEDIATE
RELATIVE PETITIONS.—Section 201(b)(2)(A) (8 U.S.C.
1151(b)(2)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(iii) In the case of an alien who is an unmar-
ried child of a citizen of the United States on, be-
fore, or after the date of enactment of this clause
and who attains the age of 21 after the date on
which a petition is filed with the Attorney General
under section 204 to classify the alien as an imme-
diate relative under this clause, such alien shall, for
the purposes of this subsection, retain the legal sta-
tus of child as defined in section 101(b)(2) of this
Act, for the purposes of entitlement to obtaining an
immigrant visa.
‘‘(iv) In the case of an alien who was a child
of a parent lawfully admitted for permanent resi-
dence on the date on which a petition was filed with
the Attorney General under section 204 to classify
the alien as an immigrant under subsection
203(a)(2)(A) and whose parent subsequently became
a naturalized citizen of the United States, such alien
shall, for the purposes of this subsection, retain the
legal status of child as defined in section 101(b)(2)
of this Act, for the purposes of entitlement to ob-
taining an immigrant visa, if the alien remains un-
married.
‘‘(v) In the case of an alien who was the mar-
ried son or daughter of a United States citizen on
the date on which a petition was filed with the At-
torney General under section 204 to classify the
alien as an immigrant under subsection 203(a)(3),
who subsequently becomes unmarried, and who was
under 21 years of age on the date of the legal termi-
nation of the alien’s marriage, such alien shall retain
the legal status of child as defined in section
101(b)(2) of this Act, for the purposes of entitle-
ment to obtaining an immigrant visa, if the alien re-
mains unmarried.’’.
(c) IMMIGRANT VISA ISSUANCE FOR CHILDREN WHO
AGE-OUT WHILE AWAITING PROCESSING
OF SECOND
PREFERENCE PETITIONS.—Section 203(a)(2) (8 U.S.C.
1153(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following
new subparagraph: