WASHINGTON DC:- USCIS updating the Policy Manual to clarify that a visa becomes available for the purposes of Child Status Protection Act age calculation based on the Final Action Dates chart of the Department of State Visa Bulletin. The new guidance applies to requests filed on or after August 15, 2025. We will apply the Feb. 14, 2023, policy of CSPA age calculation to adjustment of status applications pending with USCIS before August 15, 2025, as these aliens may have relied on that policy when they filed.
This policy update ensures both USCIS and the Department of State use the Final Action Dates chart in the Visa Bulletin to determine when a visa becomes available for the purposes of CSPA age calculation. This establishes a consistent CSPA age calculation for aliens who apply for adjustment of status and immigrant visas. The Feb. 14, 2023, policy resulted in inconsistent treatment of aliens who applied for adjustment of status in the United States versus aliens outside the United States who applied for an immigrant visa with the Department of State.
Generally, an unmarried alien child must be under age 21 to obtain lawful permanent resident status in the United States based on their parent’s approved petition for a family-sponsored, employment-based, or diversity visa. If they turn 21 and age out during the immigration process, they generally are no longer eligible to immigrate based on their parent’s petition. Congress enacted the CSPA to protect certain alien children from losing their eligibility for lawful permanent resident status based on an approved visa petition. The CSPA provides a method to calculate the alien’s age that considers when an immigrant visa number “becomes available.”
If an alien is applying for adjustment of status under a family-sponsored, employment-based preference, or diversity visa, they must seek to acquire lawful permanent residence within one year of when a visa becomes available to benefit from the CSPA age calculation. This update also clarifies that we consider an alien to have satisfied the “sought to acquire” requirement if they demonstrate extraordinary circumstances for failing to seek lawful permanent resident status within one year of when a visa becomes available. If an alien demonstrates extraordinary circumstances for not applying for adjustment of status during the period of the Feb. 14, 2023, policy before August 15,2025, we will calculate CSPA age under the Feb. 14, 2023, policy.