I-360 Approval Notice

Official PDF downloads

• Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, USCIS (PDF)
• Instructions for Form I-360, USCIS (PDF)
• Optional Checklist for Form I-360 Special Immigrant Religious Worker, USCIS (PDF)

What this is

The USCIS approval notice showing an I-360 special immigrant petition was approved under the specific classification the later case depends on.

Case-specific: Whether this document matters depends on category, facts, or relationship to the case.

Who usually needs it

Special immigrant applicants often need it when the adjustment or consular stage must connect back to an approved I-360 rather than re-prove the whole petition theory from scratch.

When it usually appears

Usually after petition approval, during later immigrant-visa or adjustment processing tied to that approved classification.

What changes by process, path, or post

The notice matters only if the pathway actually runs through an approved I-360, and the classification behind that approval still controls what else the case must prove.

Common format or evidence traps

• Treating any I-360 approval notice as interchangeable across SIJ, religious worker, widow(er), or other classifications.
• Assuming the notice alone replaces the classification-specific evidence still needed later.

Related pages

• Petition stage guideUnderstand what petitions decide and what they do not.
• Pathway explorerUse pathway families if you still need the legal route.
• Consular processing guideSee the immigrant-visa route abroad.
• Adjustment of status guideSee the USCIS route inside the United States.

Related glossary terms

Special immigrant · Approval notice

Examples from current exact-support flows

Coverage posture: Current public exact-support flows include multiple direct examples for this document, but exact requirements still depend on the route, process stage, and official instructions.

• Usually needed

  Special-immigrant AOS requires category-specific classification evidence, often an approved I-360 or equivalent statutory/category document.

  Shown when: green_card_path: special-immigrant · processing_context: adjustment-of-status

• Usually needed

  Provide the USCIS I-360 approval notice (Form I-797) establishing special immigrant classification. For Section 13 cases, there is no separate I-360 petition; include the Section 13 eligibility documentation in its place. (Sources: uscis_i360_page, uscis_i360_instructions, uscis_i485_instructions)

  Shown when: scope.green_card_path: special-immigrant · scope.processing_context: adjustment-of-status