Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) Age Calculation: A Closer Look at the Recent Policy Update
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced updates on how to calculate the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) age for noncitizen immigrants.
Understanding the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)
To clarify, the CSPA is aimed to protect certain beneficiaries from losing their eligibility for immigrant visas and adjustment of status due to aging out in the immigration process. For the family or employment-based preference or diversity immigrant categories, the CSPA offers a specific method to calculate a nonimmigrant’s age based on the date that the immigrant visa becomes available. This is especially important for children who may age out of their eligibility category before obtaining their Permanent Resident Cards (also known as Green Cards).
Background Information: The Sought-To-Acquire Requirement and Extraordinary Circumstances
To gain the benefits from the calculation, an individual must seek to acquire lawful permanent resident (LPR) status within one year of immigrant visa availability. There are certain extraordinary categories that may merit the use of discretion to excuse an applicant who did not seek to acquire LPR status within one year of the visa availability. These extraordinary circumstances can be established by the applicant showing that the circumstances were not created through their own actions or inactions; the circumstances directly impacted the applicant’s inability to seek to acquire LPR status within the given period; and, finally, the delay was reasonable under these given circumstances. If the applicant can successfully establish these circumstances as extraordinary, then USCIS calculates their CSPA age using the date when the visa became available.
There are cases in which a visa may not have been continuously available to an applicant. The U.S. Department of State (DOS) is authorized to make estimates on the number of available visas and publish these estimates in the monthly Visa Bulletin charts. On occasion, these estimates may move backwards to ensure that more visas are not issued than the limits imposed. A visa may become unavailable to the applicant due to this regression. USCIS may also designate a different chart of the DOS Visa Bulletin for filing an adjustment application in a specific category. This too may cause a visa to become unavailable to the applicant. Hence when a visa becomes unavailable before a continuous one-year period has lapsed, USCIS policy provides that the applicant has another one-year period to seek to acquire when the visa becomes available again.
Key Points from the Policy Update:
- Clarification on CSPA Age Calculation: USCIS will now calculate the CSPA age of an applicant who establishes extraordinary circumstances using the date the immigrant visa first became available, even if there were periods of visa unavailability.
- Expanded Discretion: In cases where the immigrant visa became unavailable and the applicant demonstrates extraordinary circumstances, USCIS may still calculate the CSPA age using the initial availability date.
This policy update provides greater flexibility for applicants who face unexpected circumstances that restrain them from meeting the sought-to-acquire requirements within the given timeframe. Additionally, it ensures more consistent and equitable treatment in cases that involve certain visa unavailability.
By clarifying the CSPA age calculation process and expanding the scope of extraordinary circumstances, USCIS is providing greater protection and opportunities for individuals who may otherwise face certain obstacles in their immigration journey.
As this matter is subject to further updates, we encourage our readers to check our website regularly for updates regarding this and all matters regarding immigration law. Pasricha & Patel’s Immigration Department has extensive experience in handling business and personal immigration matters. Our team is happy to speak with you on your specific issue.