See Part L, Refugee Adjustment, Chapter 2, Eligibility Requirements, Section F, Special Considerations for Refugee Adjustment of Status Applicants, Subsection 2, Child Status Protection Act Provisions [7 USCIS-PM L.2(F)(2)]. If someone applies for lawful permanent resident (LPR) status as a child but turns 21 before being approved for LPR status (also known as getting a Green Card), that person can no longer be considered a child for immigration purposes. When a visa becomes unavailable to the noncitizen before a continuous 1-year period has elapsed, the applicant has another 1-year period to seek to acquire when the visa once again becomes available for accepting and processing an adjustment of status application. [^ 22] See INA 203(h)(1)(A). The derivative applicants CSPA age is calculated using the petition underlying the principal beneficiarys adjustment of status application, in other words, the second Form I-140. The visa remains available to the prospective applicant through March 2021, that is, for a continuous 1-year period of visa availability. When a lawful permanent resident (LPR) files a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative for his or her child or unmarried son or daughter, the petition is classified as a family second preference case. [^ 15] See Part M, Asylee Adjustment, Chapter 2, Eligibility Requirements, Section C, Derivative Asylee Continues to be the Spouse or Child of the Principal Asylee [7 USCIS-PM M.2(C)]. [^ 9] Pending time may also include administrative review, such as motions and appeals, but does not include consular returns. VAWA self-petitioners and derivatives who age out before adjusting status are considered self-petitioners for preference status, and derivatives retain the priority date of their parents Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant (Form I-360) VAWA self-petition. For DV derivative applicants, the number of days the petition was pending is the period of time between the start of the DV Program registration period and the date of the DV selection letter. U.S. See Section G, Sought to Acquire Requirement [7 USCIS-PM A.7(G)] for detailed information. The formula for determining the length of time the petition was pending is as follows: Approval Date - Filing Date = Pending Time. For IRs and IR self-petitioners or derivatives under VAWA, a childs age is frozen on the date the Form I-130 or Form I-360 is filed, respectively. The CSPA age is calculated based on the new visa availability date of October 1, 2021 (not October 1, 2020), and locked in as of that date provided that the visa remains available and the applicant seeks to acquire during that 1-year period. Family-Sponsored Preference Principals and Derivatives (including VAWA)[54]. He said we need to write a letter to tell them why we believe. If you think, you are eligible under CSPA then you must write letters to NVC, Consulate and INS claiming your eligibility to speed up processing on your file. USCIS denied the adjustment application solely because the applicant had aged out. If the adjustment applicant was under the age of 21 at the time the petition was filed or automatically converted, the applicant is eligible for CSPA and will not age out. Hello there, Congratulations, you and your brother both qualify for CSPA, what you should do is when you send supporting documents for your parents to the NVC, send a letter to the NVC with your and your brother's name, date of birth and ask NVC to review the file since you may qualify for CSPA. This also applies to circumstances when USCIS approves a request to transfer the underlying basis of a pending adjustment of status application to a different immigrant category based on another approved petition. * Child Status Protection Act Date Of Birth* Priority Date* Approval Date* Date when Petition Became Current * UNDERSTAND THE TERMS Priority Date It is the date when your Petition was filed. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) defines a child as a person who is both unmarried and under 21 years old. Step 2: Creating A User Account and Scheduling Your Visa Appointment Go to www.ustraveldocs.com/pk/ and create a user account. Yes. In most cases, you do not need a Form I-130 to get a Green Card if you are a K-2 nonimmigrant. You will be notified once a decision is reached. Official websites use .gov The delay was reasonable under the circumstances. The formula determining the length of time the petition was pending is as follows: Approval Date - Filing Date = Pending Time. The CSPA was enacted to preserve child status for certain beneficiaries who would otherwise "age out" (turn 21 years old before they could be issued a visa) due to administrative delays in visa processing. DV applicants also use the DOS Visa Bulletin to determine visa availability. CSPA does not change the requirement that the applicant must be unmarried in order to remain eligible for classification as a child for immigration purposes. More Immigration US visas Immigrant visas As per CSPA calculator, his CSPA age remains under 21 till November 2017. Thinking the NVC was acting on the case, the family sat back and waited for further word. Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) Alert: On Feb. 14, 2023, USCIS issued policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to update when an immigrant visa "becomes available" for the purpose of calculating Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) age for noncitizens seeking lawful permanent resident status in a preference category. [31] In other words, the pending time is the period of time between the start of the DV Program registration period to the date of the DV Selection Letter. The historical versions are provided for research and reference purposes only. [46], Actions an applicant might take prior to filing an adjustment application, such as contacting an attorney or organization about initiating the process for obtaining a visa that has become available or applying for permanent residence, are not equivalent to filing an application and do not fulfill the sought to acquire requirement. You (not your parent) should send a signed letter stating that you wish to opt out of the conversion from F2B to F1. Congress recognized that many children were aging out due to large USCIS processing backlogs, so it enacted the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) to protect certain children from aging out. This page was not helpful because the content: Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants, Green Card for Family Preference Immigrants, Green Card for an Immediate Relative of a U.S. Citizen, Fiscal Year 2023 Employment-Based Adjustment of Status FAQs, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin, While Your Green Card Application Is Pending with USCIS, International Travel as a Permanent Resident, Rights and Responsibilities of a Permanent Resident, Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 7, Part F, Section 2, of the USCIS Policy Manual, Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. [^ 29] A transfer request potentially affects the CSPA age calculation for the derivative beneficiaries. See Section G, Sought to Acquire Requirement [7 USCIS-PM A.7(G)]. [3] CSPA does not alter this definition. A lock ( A locked padlock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. It is important to note that this NVC-generated assessment letter will not hold up the qualification of the case for appointment at post. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Example: Visa Becomes Unavailable Before Filing. INA 201(f) - Rules for determining whether certain aliens are immediate relatives, INA 203(h) - Rules for determining whether certain aliens are children, INA 207(c)(2)(B) - Admission by Attorney General of refugees; criteria; admission status of spouse or child; applicability of other statutory requirements; termination of refugee status of alien, spouse, or child, INA 208(b)(3)(B) - Continued classification of certain aliens as children, INA 209(a)(1) - Inspection and examination by Department of Homeland Security, INA 209, 8 CFR 209 - Adjustment of status of refugees and asylees, Pub. When your stepparent files a Form I-130 for you, you become an immediate relative who can use the CSPA when applying for a Green Card. However, USCIS may excuse the applicant from the requirement as an exercise of discretion if the applicant is able to establish that the failure to satisfy the sought to acquire requirement within 1 year was the result of extraordinary circumstances.[47]. However, if your stepparent and your K-1 nonimmigrant parent did not marry within 90 days (a requirement for getting a Green Card based on K-1 and K-2 nonimmigrant status), your stepparent might choose to file a Form I-130 for you. [^ 27] For CSPA purposes, the age at time of visa availability is the applicants age when USCIS considers the applicants visa available. The prospective applicant decides not to file for adjustment of status between March 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021. As mentioned in the assessment letter, applicants should bring any completed joint-sponsor . The letter format is on this forum. You become an immediate relative and will not age out. In order for family-sponsored and employment-based preference and DV adjustment applicants to benefit from the CSPA age calculation, they must seek to acquire lawful permanent residence within 1 year of when a visa becomes available for accepting and processing a potential adjustment of status application. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to remove references to Biographic Information (Form G-325A). The applicant would have been considered under the age of 21 under applicable CSPA rules; The applicant applied for adjustment of status within 1 year of visa availability; and. The adjustment applicant must have had one of the following approved or pending on or after the CSPAs effective date: a qualifying Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130), Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant (Form I-360), or Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form I-485); The applicant must have been under the age of 21 and unmarried at the time the qualifying Form I-130 or Form I-360 was filed; and, If the petitioner of a pending or approved IR spousal petition dies, the spousal Form I-130 automatically converts to a widow(er)s Form I-360. The applicant already had a continuous 1-year period in which to seek to acquire. However, we called NVC and was told that she was moved to F2B. [^ 28] See Section G, Sought to Acquire Requirement [7 USCIS-PM A.7(G)] for detailed information. So long as the child was under 21 on the date of the interview, he or she will not age out of eligibility for derivative refugee status or adjustment of status. This situation is commonly referred to as aging out and often means that these applicants would have to file a new petition or application, wait even longer to get a Green Card, or may no longer be eligible for a Green Card. [^ 46] If a derivative child has a pending adjustment application and USCIS approves the principal applicants request to transfer the underlying basis of their adjustment application to a different immigrant category based on another approved petition, then the date that the transfer request is received by USCIS is the date used to determine whether the derivative child met the sought to acquire requirement. As a K-2 nonimmigrant (child of a K-1 nonimmigrant who is the fianc(e) of a U.S. citizen), you typically get a Green Card based on your admission into the U.S. with a K-2 visa and your K-1 parents marriage to the U.S. citizen petitioner within 90 days of being admitted to the U.S. As long as you were under 21 when you were admitted to the United States as a K-2 nonimmigrant, you will not age out of eligibility for a Green Card. Unlike derivative refugees, you must be unmarried in order to qualify for a grant of derivative asylum and to qualify for a Green Card under INA section 209. The DOS Visa Bulletin contains a clear warning to applicants to consult with the USCIS website for guidance on whether to use the Dates for Filing chart or Final Action Dates chart. [^ 2] The situation in which noncitizens can no longer be classified as children for immigrant visa purposes due to turning 21 is commonly referred to as aging out.. A visa subsequently becomes available again on October 1, 2021, based on the Dates for Filing chart, which USCIS has designated for use in that month. Looking for U.S. government information and services? Officers should review the USCIS Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin webpage to determine whether the applicant had a prior 1-year period of visa availability to file for adjustment of status. [^ 45] Applicants may file the Form I-824 concurrently with the adjustment application. This technical update replaces all instances of the term alien with noncitizen or other appropriate terms throughout the Policy Manual where possible, as used to refer to a person who meets the definition provided in INA 101(a)(3) [any person not a citizen or national of the United States]. The date of visa availability is the date of petition approval or the first day of the month of the DOS Visa Bulletin that indicates availability for that immigrant preference category and priority date according to the chart USCIS designated that month for accepting and processing the adjustment of status application, whichever is later. The date a Form I-590 is considered filed is the date of the principal refugee parents interview with a USCIS officer. [36], The applicants CSPA age is determined based on how long the applicants underlying petition was pending and the applicants age when a visa became available to the applicant or the petition is approved, whichever is later. This chapter primarily focuses on the impact of CSPA on adjustment applicants, though the same principles generally apply to noncitizens seeking an immigrant visa through DOS.[8]. The applicant also files an adjustment of status application based on the second Form I-140. Legal Authorities and Additional Guidance, CSPA age is frozen on the date the principal refugee parents Form I-590 is filed (the date of the parents interview with USCIS). Officers may use the USCIS webpage to track movement of dates over time but should confirm consequential dates in the relevant monthly bulletin and chart. The employer rescinds the parents job offer, but the parent receives a job offer from a second employer. See INA 204(a)(1)(D)(i)(I) and INA 204(a)(1)(D)(i)(III). For purposes of adjustment of status of a derivative refugee, CSPA protection is not needed because a derivative refugee does not need to remain the child of the principal refugee in order to adjust status under INA 209. This letter should also include your and your parents names and dates of birth and the receipt number for your Form I-130. CSPA provides that the age of the child will be frozen in each of the following 3 circumstances: 1) If the US citizen parent submits an I-130 visa petition for a child prior to his or her 21st birthday. For more information about K-1 and K-2 nonimmigrant visas, see the Fianc(e) Visas page. In order to establish extraordinary circumstances, the applicant must demonstrate that: The circumstances were not created by the applicant through his or her own action or inaction; The circumstances directly affected the applicants failure to seek to acquire within the 1-year period; and. NVC is asking us to pay IV Application Processing Fees on ceac.state.gov but it only displays names of my husband and I on ceac.state.gov. The Child Status Protection Act, or CSPA, was enacted in 2002 in an effort to prevent certain children from aging out while they wait to immigrate on a family-based petition. This guidance is effective immediately and applies to adjustment of status applications we adjudicate on or after Feb. 14, 2023. The DV Program registration period began on October 1, 2012, and the DV Selection Letter is dated May 1, 2013. The parent files an adjustment of status application based on the second Form I-140 and is approved. [^ 23] Qualifying underlying forms include Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130); Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant (Form I-360);Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers (Form I-140); Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor (Form I-526); and Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor (Form I-526E). Here are the details: * The child is studying in the U.S. His parents acquired permanent residency in 2011 and applied for an I-130 for him in 2011 when he was approx. CSPA (Child Status Protection Act) Calculator. National Visa Center (NVC) Immigrant Visa Backlog Report Last updated February 2023 Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected the Department of State's ability to process immigrant visa applications. CSPA age is frozen on the date the principal asylee parents Form I-589 is filed. [^ 6] The CSPA protects a derivative refugee from aging out prior to his or her refugee admission, but such protection is not needed at the adjustment stage because a derivative refugee does not need to remain the spouse or child of the principal refugee in order to adjust status under INA 209. If we previously denied your adjustment of status application, but you believe your CSPA age calculation is under 21 under this policy guidance, you may file a motion to reopen your application using a Notice of Appeal or Motion (Form I-290B). [12] The widow(er)s child(ren), if any, must be under the age of 21 and unmarried at the time of the petitioners death to be classified as derivatives on the automatically converted Form I-360, regardless of whether the child(ren) had a separate pending or approved Form I-130 at the time of the petitioners death. [27] The formula for calculating CSPA age is as follows: Age at time of visa availability - Pending time = CSPA Age, While an applicant must file an adjustment application or otherwise seek lawful permanent resident status in order to benefit from CSPA, the date the applicant files an adjustment application is not relevant for the CSPA age calculation.[28]. Therefore, the applicants pending time is 7 months. (CSPA), visa applicants can "opt out" of conversion to the F1 visa category and remain an F2B visa applicant. B BigJoe5 Registered Users (C) Jul 26, 2011 A visa initially becomes available to the prospective applicant according to the Final Action Dates chart on March 1, 2020, which USCIS designated for use in that month. Therefore, the applicants CSPA age is under 21. [^ 38] There are two ways in which a visa may become unavailable for accepting and processing an adjustment of status application. If a continuous 1-year period of visa availability elapsed and the applicant did not seek to acquire during the 1-year period, the applicant cannot benefit from the age-out protections of the CSPA. CSPA age is calculated by subtracting the number of days the Form I-130 (or Form I-360 for VAWA self-petitioners and derivatives) was pending from the applicants age on the date an immigrant visa becomes available to the applicant. Limited CSPA Coverage for K-4Nonimmigrants. Certain provisions of the CSPA apply to some categories of immigrants but not others. Unfortunately, the CSPA requires that if a child is eligible, the child must "seek to acquire" a visa within one year. Age at Time of Visa Availability - Pending Time = CSPA Age. CSPA. Only the applicants who are listed on the interview appointment letter issued by the NVC must appear to be interviewed at the scheduled time. [10], Certain Preference Applicants with No Adjustment Application Pending on the Effective Date. [^ 32] The rank number is the number following the two-letter region code and should correspond with cut-off numbers available in the DOS Visa Bulletin. The CSPA went into effect on August 6, 2002. Generally, in order to establish eligibility, a derivative asylee must have been listed on the principal applicants Form I-589 prior to a final decision on the principals asylum application. In order to warrant a favorable exercise of discretion, the circumstances must truly be extraordinary and beyond the adjustment applicants control. If the petitioner naturalizes (becomes a U.S. citizen) before the child or unmarried son or daughter gets a Green Card, the petition is converted to either an immediate relative or family first preference case. The applicant must have had a qualifying Registration for Classification as a Refugee (Form I-590) or Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition (. However, the derivative refugee may overcome this by providing evidence establishing the parent-child relationship, including evidence of the childs age, and a reasonable explanation as to why the derivative was not included on the principals Form I-590. This page was not helpful because the content: Chapter 9 - Death of Petitioner or Principal Beneficiary, Chapter 10 - Legal Analysis and Use of Discretion, Part I - Adjustment Based on Violence Against Women Act, Part J - Trafficking Victim-Based Adjustment, Part Q - Rescission of Lawful Permanent Residence, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin, Age-Out Protections Afforded Battered Children Pursuant to The Child Status Protection Act and the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, How to Use the USCIS Policy Manual Website, Appendix: 2020 Fee Rule Litigation Summary. U.S. CSPA CALCULATOR Fill in the fields below for CSPA Calculator * Fields with *are required fields. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. When considering a claim of extraordinary circumstances, the officer should weigh the totality of the circumstances and the connection between the circumstances presented and the failure to meet the sought to acquire requirement within the 1-year period, as well as the reasonableness of the delay. For family and employment-based preference adjustment applicants, the length of time a petition was pending (pending time) is the number of days between the date that it is properly filed (filing date)[30] and the approval date. Applicants cannot rely on the DOS Visa Bulletin alone because the Visa Bulletin merely publishes both charts; it does not state which chart can be used to determine when to file an adjustment of status application. [34] DOS publishes a new Visa Bulletin on a monthly basis. Further, the CSPA provisions pertaining to preference immigrants, including petitions by LPR parents, the are most complex part of this law (in comparison, the CSPA's application to children of U.S. citizens is much more [^ 47] For more information, see Subsection 3, Extraordinary Circumstances [7 USCIS-PM A.7(G)(3)]. It is important to note that while USCIS designates one of the charts for use by applicants each month for accepting and processing adjustment of status applications, the Final Action Dates chart always governs when a visa is authorized for issuance to an applicant. [^ 49] Though the CSPA technically requires DV derivatives to seek to acquire within 1 year, this requirement does not generally affect DV derivatives, as they are only eligible to receive a visa through the end of the specific fiscal year in which the principal applicant was selected under INA 203(c). Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. [9], CSPA does not apply to adjustment applications that were subject to a final determination prior to the effective date. In this case, the age of the child will be frozen as of the date that the I-130 is received by the government. The applicant must have had a qualifying petition. If you do not know which USCIS office approved your Form I-130, you may call our USCIS Contact Center. So my recent CEAC electronic submission story with new information about NVC and CPSA follows: 1) The USCIS approved petition was for a F2A (or F22 - unmarried child under 21 years) 2) NVC CEAC created the case with a F22 visa classification shown on the status page. In other words, the applicants age is frozen on the date the Form I-589 is filed. If you have a pending adjustment application as a derivative child, and we grant the principal applicants request to transfer the underlying basis of their adjustment application to a different immigrant category based on another approvedpetition, then the date we receive the transfer request is the date we use to determine whether you meet the sought to acquire requirement. [16], While the child must have been unmarried in order to qualify for refugee derivative status, he or she does not need to remain unmarried in order to adjust status under INA 209.[18]. On February 1, 2021, a visa is no longer available to the prospective applicant under either chart and therefore, the prospective applicant is no longer eligible to file an adjustment of status application. [^ 48] For DVs, the date a visa is considered available is the first day on which the principal applicants rank number is current for visa processing. Since October 2015, the Visa Bulletin has featured two charts per immigrant preference category: USCIS designates one of the two charts for use by applicants each month. [^ 50] In Matter of O. Vazquez, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled that extraordinary circumstances could warrant the exercise of discretion to excuse an applicant who failed to meet the sought to acquire requirement during the 1-year period. For more information, see Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 7, Part F, Section 2, of the USCIS Policy Manual. The applicant must have been under the age of 21 and unmarried at the time the qualifying Form I-590 was filed. However, you must remain unmarried in order to qualify. L. 107-56 (PDF), 115 Stat. CSPA does not change the definition of a child. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating and incorporating relevant Adjudicators Field Manual (AFM) content into the USCIS Policy Manual. Instead, CSPA provides methods for calculating an applicants age for immigrant visa purposes. In order to protect children from aging out of their cases at age 21, CSPA may extend the eligibility of the applicant, should the applicant meet the CSPA requirements. The applicant may file an untimely motion to reopen or reconsider without a filing fee if: Special rules apply in cases where an adjustment applicant would otherwise age out on or after August 6, 2002. From the date of visa availability, and provided that the visa remains available for a continuous 1-year period, the applicant has 1 year to fulfill the sought to acquire requirement. For a motion filed more than 30 days after the denial, if the noncitizen demonstrates that the delay was reasonable and was beyond their control, we may, in our discretion, excuse the untimely filing of the motion. The NVC did its CSPA analysis when the priority date became current using Chart A, which was on Oct. 1, 2016. Read Shimanto's reply, I posted the format there. U.S. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise First, the date in the DOS Visa Bulletin for the prospective applicants country of chargeability and preference category may retrogress or move backwards. . Furthermore, the fact of being or having been a child is common to all applicants seeking protection under the CSPA and does not constitute extraordinary circumstances. The widow(er)s children, if any, who are under the age of 21 and unmarried at the time of the petitioners death can be classified as derivatives on the automatically converted Form I-360 and therefore qualify for the CSPA. The applicant must be unmarried at the time he or she seeks adjustment of status. The CSPA went into effect on August 6, 2002. CSPA age is calculated by subtracting the number of days the petition was pending from the applicants age on the date an immigrant visa becomes available to the applicant. See INA 209(a)(1). HOW TO RECAPTURE/RETAIN AND UTILIZE PRIORITY DATES 4 HOW TO RECAPTURE/RETAIN AND UTILIZE PRIORITY DATES | FEBRUARY 2022 [^ 10] See Matter of Avila-Perez (PDF), 24 I&N Dec. 78 (BIA 2007). For DVs, the qualifying petition is the DV Program electronic entry form. [^ 42] Submitting a Form DS-260 that covers only the principal applicant does not meet the sought to acquire requirement for a derivative child. In order to qualify as a stepchild, the marriage between your U.S. citizen stepparent and your K3 nonimmigrant parent must have occurred before your 18th birthday. If you were under the age of 21 at the time of your parents interview, your age is frozen as of that date and you will not age out. Quote Tweet #9 01-15-2003, 12:35 AM Hello Everybody, Regarding "Child Status protection act" (CSPA) On "Retention of priorty of date" in F4- F3 categories. In order to calculate an adjustment applicants CSPA age according to the formula above, the officer must first determine the age at time of visa availability. However, CSPA does not change the requirement that you must be unmarried in order to remain eligible for classification as a child. Unmarried Son or Daughter of LPR (F2B) Becomes Unmarried Son or Daughter of U.S. Citizen (F1). . Collect all the supporting documents and fill out DS-260 (include your child's name on DS-260). Fortunately, her PD is current that month too. [^ 52] This includes Form I-730 beneficiaries. On June 1, 2021, the visa becomes available again to the prospective applicant.
