What is the Child Status Protection Act?

The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) is designed to protect a beneficiary of an immigrant visa or adjustment of status if the beneficiary would have “aged out.”[1]  A beneficiary who is “aged out” is considered a child at the time of application, but has exceeded the age of 21 when the immigrant visa becomes available or processing is completed and therefore would normally not qualify.  In its most basic form the CSPA holds the child’s age and does not allow the child to age out.  The child must have been the beneficiary of an immigrant visa petition that was pending or approved on or after August 2, 2002; the child must not have had a final adjudication prior to the enactment of the CSPA, and the child must “seek to acquire” permanent residence within one year that the immigrant visa becomes available.

The age of a child is calculated by 1) determining the age of the child when the immigrant visa became available or the approval date, whichever is later and 2) reduce the number of day the petition (I-130, I-140, I-360, I-526, or diversity visa petitions has been pending.[2]  Immediate relative children age is fixed on the date the immediate relative petition is filed.  Therefore, an unmarried child who turns 21 will remain an immediate relative and will not move to the 1st preference category.[3]

[1] Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), PL 107-208, 116 Stat. 927 (August 6, 2002).

[2] INA § 203(h)(1)

[3] INA § 201(f)(1)