This document summarizes information about the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) and how it addresses the issue of beneficiaries "aging out" of eligibility for immigration benefits. The CSPA changed prior law so that beneficiaries can retain classification as a child after turning 21 if certain requirements are met. It outlines how the CSPA applies to beneficiaries of family-based and employment-based petitions, including calculating the beneficiary's CSPA age to determine if they are protected from aging out. Examples are provided to illustrate how the CSPA formula is applied.

1. Aging Out and Immigration Benefits:
What You Need to Know
about the Child Status Protection Act
March 21, 2012
Hosted by:
Murali Bashyam and Rashmi Shah
Bashyam Spiro LLP
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2. Outline
Today’s Dialogue Map…
• “Aging Out”—what is it?
• Law Prior to Aug. 6, 2002
• Current Law: Child Status Protection Act
• Application of CSPA
Children of US Citizens
• Application of CSPA
Family-based Preference Categories
Employment-based Preference
Categories

3. Aging Out
• Certain immigration benefits are only available to
those individuals who qualify as a “child” as
defined in the Immigration and Nationality Act.
• The definition of child includes those classified as
being under the age of 21.
• When an individual is no longer classified as a
child, he or she “ages out”.
• Aging out results in the child being completely left
out of the green card process or being
automatically moved into a much slower category.

4. Prior Law
Law Prior to August 6, 2002:
– Adjustment of Status Process: If the Immigration
Service did not adjust the child’s status before the child
turned 21 years old, then the child aged out.
– Immigrant Visa Process: If the child did not enter the
US with an immigrant visa prior to his or her 21st
birthday, then the child aged out.
Standard practice under prior law: Expedited Processing
Requests—often requested through a congressional office
because of difficulties in communicating directly with INS.

5. Current Law
Child Status Protection Act “CSPA”
• Enacted on August 6, 2002
• Allows a beneficiary to retain classification as a
child after reaching the age of 21, if certain
requirements are met.
• Changed the way determinations are made as to
whether an individual qualifies as a “child”

6. Beneficiaries Eligible for CSPA
Most Common Beneficiaries Eligible for CSPA
• Children of US Citizens
• Children of Permanent Residents
• Derivative Beneficiaries of Family-based and
Employment-based preference petitions
Examples of Preference Petitions:
 US Citizen who has filed for sibling– sibling’s children allowed to
immigrate as long as they meet definition of a child.
 Foreign Employee who is being sponsored by Employer—children are
allowed to immigrate as long as they meet definition of a child.

7. Children Under 21 of US Citizens—
Under prior law, child would have moved into a
much slower category upon reaching 21.
Result under CSPA:
I-130 Immediate Relative Petition must be filed before
child turns 21. If so, child’s age is frozen on the date the
I-130 petition is properly filed.
Doesn’t matter how long the petition process takes, child
will still be considered under 21 until final adjudication
of adjustment of status/immigrant visa application.

8. Children of Permanent Residents who Naturalize.
Under prior law, child would have moved into a much slower
category upon reaching 21.
Result under CSPA:
• The beneficiary’s age is his/her age on the date the lawful
permanent resident parent becomes a naturalized U.S.
citizen.
• If the beneficiary is under the age of 21 when the petitioner
naturalizes, petition is automatically converted to an
immediate relative petition, with beneficiary’s age frozen
under 21.

9. CSPA Age Formula
Other Preference Categories Must Apply
Formula:
CSPA Age Formula (Step 1 of 3)
1. Determine the age of the beneficiary on the date that a visa
number becomes available.
The date the visa became available is defined as the first day of the
first month the priority date is current in Department of State’s visa
bulletin or the date the petition was approved, whichever is later.

10. CSPA Step 2 of 3
CSPA Age Formula (Step 2 of 3)
2. Subtract the number of days the petition was pending
from the alien’s age at the time of visa availability.
This is the beneficiary’s CSPA age.

11. CSPA Step 3 of 3
CSPA Age Formula (Step 3 of 3)
3. The beneficiary will retain his or her CSPA age so long as
he seeks to acquire lawful permanent resident status
within one year of the visa availability by one of the
following methods:
– filing Form I-485, or
– submitting Form DS-230, or
– the principal filing Form I-824 on the derivative’s behalf.
NOTE: If the preference petition is approved and the priority date becomes
current before the alien’s CSPA age reaches 21, then a one-year period
begins during which the alien must seek to acquire permanent residence for
CSPA coverage to continue.

12. Visa Regression
Application of CSPA and Visa Regression
• When an individual files for adjustment of status and the visa subsequently regresses:
The individual has locked in his “CSPA” age. USCIS will hold the I-485 until the visa becomes
available again and then adjudicate it.
• When a visa becomes available and the beneficiary fails to seek to acquire within one year
and the visa regresses after that one year has lapsed:
The beneficiary is ineligible for CSPA age-out relief, since the regression did not affect their
ability to meet the seek to acquire requirement.
• When a visa becomes available, but regresses before one year has lapsed: USCIS currently
restarts the one year clock the next time a visa becomes available. The caveat is that USCIS
does the age calculation based on the new visa availability date, so it is in a beneficiary’s
best interest to seek to acquire as soon as possible when it comes to CSPA age-out. The
same can occur multiple times, as long as the visa was never available for a full year.

13. CSPA does not apply…
In addition to a few other categories, CSPA does
not apply to nonimmigrant visa holders or
applicants.
Example:
CSPA does not apply to children in H-4 status. Children in H-4 status
age out when they turn 21 years old. H-4 children in college
typically file an application to change to student status in order to
maintain valid immigration status.

14. Family-based CSPA example:
Is Hema protected from aging out under CSPA?
Raj is a Permanent Resident. His daughter Hema was born on Feb. 3,
1983. He filed an I-130 petition for her on May 12, 1999. The I-130
was approved on January 6, 2003. On Feb. 3, 2004, Hema turned 21,
potentially aging into a much slower category. The first day that a
visa was available in her original category was August 2, 2005.
However, Hema’s I-485 was not filed until September 29, 2006.
What result?
CSPA Formula
Step 1 of 3: Determine Hema’s age on the date visa was available,
which was August 2, 2005. Hema was 22y 5m 29d on
this date.
Step 2 of 3: Subtract the number of days the I-130 was pending
from the beneficiary’s age at the time of visa
availability.
22y 5m 29d minus 3y 7m 24d equals 18y 10m 5d.
18y 10m 5d is Hema’s age for purposes of the CSPA.

15. Family-based
CSPA example
Step 3 of 3:
Did Hema seek to aquire permanent
residency within 1 year of visa
availability?
No. She filed her application more than 1
year after a visa was available.
Answer:
Hema is not protected from aging out under the
CSPA.

16. Employment-based
CSPA example
Is Suresh protected from aging out under CSPA?
Pradeep’s employer filed a labor certification application for him on June 30,
2009, thereby establishing Pradeep’s priority date. The labor certification
application was quickly certified by the Dept. of Labor. On December 1, 2009,
Pradeep’s employer filed Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. At
Pradeep’s request, the employer paid an extra fee to have the I-140 premium
processed in 15 business days. On December 11, 2009, the I-140 was
approved. Pradeep’s priority date was not current; therefore, he was unable
to file for adjustment of status at that time. On March 1, 2012, Pradeep’s
priority date became current. Pradeep’s son, Suresh turned 21 on Feb. 10,
2012.
Step 1 of 3:
Determine Suresh’s age on the first day that a visa was
available.
Suresh was 21 y 0 m 20 days on March 1, 2012—the 1st
day a visa was available.

17. Employment-based
CSPA example
Step 2 of 3:
Subtract the number of days the I-140 was pending from
Suresh’s age at the time a visa number became available.
21 y 0 m 20 days minus 10 days equals 21 y 0 m 10 days.
ANSWER:
AFTER APPLYING THE CSPA FORMULA, SURESH’S AGE IS STILL OVER 21.
HE IS NOT PROTECTED. STEP 3 is NOT NECESSARY.
Note regarding premium processing:
In this example, filing the I-140 petition under premium processing was a
mistake. Had the I-140 been filed regular processing, most likely it
would have taken USCIS several months to issue the approval—which
would have given Suresh the extra days of pendency needed to be
protected under CSPA.

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