NEW USCIS POLICY FOR CALCULATING AGE UNDER THE CHILD STATUS PROTECTION ACT (CSPA) SEE UPDATE POSTED ON THE USCIS WEBSITE, FEBRUARY 14, 2023.
USCIS issued updated guidance regarding when an immigrant visa number “becomes available” for the purpose of calculating a noncitizen’s age under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA).
Prior to this, USCIS considered a child’s age “frozen” if a visa number was available under the Final Action Date Chart of the Visa Bulletin at the time the I-485 application was filed. If a visa number was not available under the Final Action Date Chart of the Visa Bulletin, they may still be eligible to file their application for adjustment of status (to obtain a green card)based on the Dates for Filing Chart of the Visa Bulletin. In that scenario, a noncitizen may file their application when the Dates for Filing Chart indicated but ultimately not be eligible because the Final Action Date Chart did not advance sufficiently
Under the USCIS Policy Manual as updated, USCIS will instead use the Dates for Filing Chart for calculating a child’s age under CSPA. In other words, the child’s age will be “frozen” when the adjustment of status application is filed based on the Date of Filing Chart, even if a visa number is not yet available under the Final Action Chart.
This policy change is effective immediately and applies to all pending applications. This means that some noncitizens with pending applications based on the Dates of Filing Chart, who may have already “aged out” if their priority date never became current under the Final Action Chart, may now have a CSPA age under 21. If so, they remain eligible for a derivative green card.
SOURCES: USCIS Policy Manual Policy Alert (PDF, 345 KB) Child Status Protection Act