CHILD STATUS PROTECTION ACT

The Child Status Protection Act, commonly known as CSPA, prevents some children from aging out in certain visa categories.  Following are some categories of children who may benefit from CSPA:

            The first category of beneficiaries are the children who were unmarried and under the age of 21 at the time their U.S. citizen parent filed an I-130 - Petition for Alien Relative, on their behalf are allowed to preserve their immediate relative status even if they age out i.e. cross the age of 21, provided certain conditions are met.

• Additionally, children who were married and under 21 when their U.S. citizen parent filed an I-130 - Petition for Alien Relative, on their behalf and who subsequently divorce before turning 21 automatically convert to the immediate relative category. The CSPA preserves their immediate relative status.
• CSPA may also help children whose parents were in Legal Permanent Resident Status (LPR), who were unmarried and under 21 at the time their LPR parent filed an I-130 on their behalf, and whose parent subsequently naturalizes before the child turns 21, automatically convert to the immediate relative category. The CSPA preserves their immediate relative status.
• Children in the second preference F2A category i.e. Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents, will preserve their F2A status upon turning 21 if they are under 21 using their “adjusted age” on the date the F-2A category becomes current for their priority date. Their adjusted age is determined by subtracting from their biological age the number of days the I-130 petition was pending before being approved by the USCIS. It could be months or years. These children have one year from the date their priority became current to seek adjustment of status or an immigrant visa.
• Derivative children in the family-based categories will retain their derivative status upon turning 21 if they are under 21 using their “adjusted age” on the date the principal beneficiary’s category becomes current. Their adjusted age is determined by subtracting from their biological age the number of days the I-130 was pending before being approved by the USCIS They have one year from the date they became current to seek adjustment of status or an immigrant visa.
• Derivative children in the employment-based categories will retain their derivative status upon turning 21 if they are under 21 using their “adjusted age” on the date the principal beneficiary’s category becomes current. This is similar to derivative beneficiaries of I-130 petitions whereas in this case it is I-140 petition for employment based categories.
• Children in the second preference F-2B category who were over 21 at the time their LPR parent filed an I-130 petition on their behalf will be able to opt out of automatic conversion to the first preference category when their parent naturalizes. This helps persons from countries (g., India, Philippines) where the first preference is backlogged farther than the second preference 2B category.

CSPA calculations may be confusing and our experienced Immigration Lawyers can help you bring eligible children over the age of 21 come to the U.S. with the family without long delays.

Call the experienced and affordable immigration attorneys in Fresno today at 559.312.0083 or email us at info@joshilawfirm.com.