[^ 26] In addition to CSPA protections, VAWA self-petitioners and derivatives who turn 21 prior to adjusting status may be eligible for age-out protections provided in the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (VTPVA) of 2000, Pub. To be CSPA qualified you must meet two criteria: Your "CSPA age" must be under 21 years old. [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]. Under these facts, the prospective applicant failed to seek to acquire permanent residence within 1 year of visa availability because the prospective applicant failed to apply for adjustment of status during the 1-year period between March 1, 2020, and March 1, 2021, when a visa was continuously available to file an adjustment of status application. For more information, see Part F, Special Immigrant-Based (EB-4) Adjustment [7 USCIS-PM F]. 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. 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. Limited CSPA Coverage for K-4Nonimmigrants. 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. 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. If the prospective applicant has a priority date in their country of chargeability and preference category that is later than the Final Action Date, then a visa is no longer available to them for accepting and processing their application during the given month. Therefore, the applicants pending time is 7 months. [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. Instead, CSPA provides a method for calculating a persons age to see if they meet the definition of a child for immigration purposes. The applicant also files an adjustment of status application based on the second Form I-140. 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. 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. To find remaining AFM content, see the crosswalk (PDF, 350.49 KB)between the AFM and the Policy Manual. [^ 38] There are two ways in which a visa may become unavailable for accepting and processing an adjustment of status application. I suggest you gather up the relevant documents (particularly the I-130 receipt and I-130 approval notice) and get a lawyer to send a letter to the NVC that demonstrates your CSPA calculation, asserts your eligibility to stay in F2A and urges them to forward your case to the consulate for final processing. VAWA self-petitioners and derivatives who do not qualify for CSPA may qualify for age-out relief under VTPVA. or NVC; pay the affidavit of support fee with the NVC; file the DS-260 . For DVs, the qualifying petition is the DV Program electronic entry form. See Subsection 4, Determining Age at Time of Visa Availability [7 USCIS-PM A.7(F)(4)]. The applicants CSPA age is calculated using the approved petition that forms the new basis of the adjustment of status application.[29]. 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. 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. APPLICATION OF THE CHILD STATUS PROTECTION ACT TO THE CHILDREN OF U.S. CITIZEN PETITIONERS 2 APPLICATION OF THE CSPA TO THE CHILDREN OF U.S. CITIZEN PETITIONERS | DECEMBER 2018 B. Child's Age Frozen on the Date of the Parent's Naturalization The CSPA also amended Section 201 of the INA to provide that if a permanent resident parent who had filed a visa He said we need to write a letter to tell them why we believe. * Got USCIS receipt notice on April 08, 2011. [^ 28] See Section G, Sought to Acquire Requirement [7 USCIS-PM A.7(G)] for detailed information. Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur; Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition, Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 7, Part F, Section 2 of the USCIS Policy Manual, Form DS-260, Immigrant Visa Electronic Application, Form I-824, Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition, Green Card for Fianc(e) of U.S. Citizen page, USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7, Adjustment of Status, Part A, Adjustment of Status Policies and Procedures, Chapter 7, Child Status Protection Act. How can I request NVC to consider my son's CSPA age and grant him immigrant visa as well? You are only eligible for CSPA if you are the beneficiary of a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. L. 107-208 (PDF) (August 6, 2002). The applicants CSPA age is calculated as follows: 21 years and 4 months - 6 months = 20 years and 10 months. U.S. See INA 204(a)(1)(D)(i)(III). The core purpose of the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)[1] was to alleviate the hardships faced by certain noncitizens who were previously classified as children for immigrant visa purposes, but who, due to the time required to adjudicate petitions, had turned 21 years old and consequently became ineligible to receive such immigrant visas. If you do not meet the sought to acquire requirement, we may use our discretion to excuse you from this requirement, if you can establish that your failure to meet this requirement was the result of extraordinary circumstances. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing 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 in certain situations. [19], CSPA applies differently to family-sponsored and employment-based preference and DV adjustment applicants than it does to refugee, asylee, and IR adjustment applicants. 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. USCIS employees should not rely on the historical versions for current laws, precedent decisions, policies, directives, guidance, and procedures. CSPA may also still apply to a preference applicant whose immigrant petition was approved prior to August 6, 2002, and who did not have an adjustment application pending on August 6, 2002, but who subsequently applied for adjustment and was denied solely for aging out. CSPA (Child Status Protection Act) Calculator. The CSPA went into effect on August 6, 2002. However, if the qualifying underlying form was approved prior to the effective date, an applicant who applies for adjustment of status after the effective date may still qualify for CSPA coverage. 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. To the extent that a provision in the USCIS Policy Manual conflicts with remaining AFM content or Policy Memoranda, the updated information in the USCIS Policy Manual prevails. USCIS denied the adjustment application solely because the applicant had aged out. 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. Depending on the facts of the particular case, a derivative beneficiary may become ineligible to adjust status as a derivative as a result of a transfer request because their new calculated CSPA age is no longer under 21 years of age. However, you may choose to opt out of the automatic conversion and stay in second preference classification (F2B) if the waiting time for the second preference visa is shorter than the waiting time for the first preference visa. The DV Program registration period began on October 1, 2012, and the DV Selection Letter is dated May 1, 2013. For more information about K-1 and K-2 nonimmigrant visas, see the Fianc(e) Visas page. You are 21 years and 4 months old when USCIS considers an immigrant visa available to you. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual regarding the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). As mentioned in the assessment letter, applicants should bring any completed joint-sponsor . Fortunately, her PD is current that month too. Your mother filed a petition for you on Feb.1, 2016. If your LPR parent filed a Form I-130 for you as an unmarried son or daughter (second preference classification) and then your parent became a U.S. citizen, you normally would automatically convert to a first preference classification as the unmarried son or daughter of a U.S. citizen (F1). In between we also sent an email to NVC to know the status of our CSPA application for which they replied on 22nd July 2016 like this Quote This case is currently under review for applicability of the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). 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. Denials that were based on the failure to seek to acquire and issued prior to the decision in Matter of O. Vazquez[51] were proper based on the law in effect at the time of the decision. This guidance is effective immediately and applies to adjustment of status applications we adjudicate on or after Feb. 14, 2023. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policyguidance addressing the general policies and procedures of adjustment of status as well as adjustment under section 245(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). CSPA applies to both noncitizens abroad who are applying for an immigrant visa through the Department of State (DOS) and noncitizens physically present in the United States who are applying for adjustment of status through USCIS. Review our. The CSPA age associated with the petition does not change after the filing of the adjustment of status application and is frozen through the final adjudication, regardless of when a visa is authorized for issuance based on the Final Action Dates chart.[37]. A previously filed Form I-824 that was denied because the principal applicant's adjustment application had not yet been approved may serve as evidence of having sought to acquire. See 9 FAM 502.1-1(D)(6), Sought to Acquire LPR Status Provision, for more information regarding how overseas applicants may satisfy the sought to acquire requirement in the consular processing context. 7 USCIS-PM B - Part B - 245(a) Adjustment, 7 USCIS-PM L - Part L - Refugee Adjustment. CSPA does not change the definition of a child. It helps lock in the age and preserve the "child" status of both immediate relatives and those in the preference categories. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to remove references to Biographic Information (Form G-325A). USCIS approved the petition on August 1, 2016. See Matter of O. Vazquez (PDF), 25 I&N Dec. 817 (BIA 2012). The petition had been pending for three months before it was approved, so that period of time can be subtracted from the child's age. Since your age freezes on the date the Form I-130 is filed, you benefit from the CSPA as long as your stepparent files the Form I-130 before your 21st birthday. Note: If an applicant has multiple approved petitions, calculate the applicants CSPA age using the petition that forms the underlying basis for the adjustment of status application. Officers should follow guidance in Age-Out Protections Afforded Battered Children Pursuant to The Child Status Protection Act and the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (PDF, 104.96 KB), issued August 17, 2004. [^ 54] For more detailed guidance on CSPA applicability and VAWA, see INA 204(a)(1)(D)(i) and Age-Out Protections Afforded Battered Children Pursuant to The Child Status Protection Act and the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (PDF, 104.96 KB), issued August 17, 2004. Official websites use .gov Applicants can determine when to file for adjustment of status by referring first to the USCIS Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin webpage and then to the DOS Visa Bulletin. 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. 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. [^ 36] See Chapter 6, Adjudicative Review, Section C, Verify Visa Availability, Subsection 5, Visa Retrogression [7 USCIS-PM A.6(C)(5)]. L. 106-386 (October 28, 2000). The applicant must have had a qualifying petition. 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. The visa remains available to the prospective applicant for accepting and processing their application according to the Dates for Filing chart (designated by USCIS) for 4 months, that is, through the end of January 2021. [20] Instead of freezing the age of the applicant on the filing date, as is the case with IRs, CSPA provides a formula by which the preference applicants CSPA age is calculated in a manner that takes into account the amount of time the qualifying petition was pending. U.S. [48] From the date of visa availability, family-sponsored and employment-based preference and DV adjustment applicants have 1 year in which to seek to acquire permanent resident status in order to qualify for CSPA coverage. See9 FAM 502.6-4, Diversity Visa Processing. 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]. While you must be unmarried to qualify for admission into the U.S. as a derivative refugee, you do not need to remain unmarried in order to qualify for a Green Card under INA section 209. If a VAWA self-petitioner was the beneficiary of a previously filed Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130), the VAWA self-petitioner and the VAWA self-petitioners derivatives CSPA age is calculated using the date the Form I-360 was filed because this is the petition through which they are seeking adjustment of status. You become an immediate relative and will not age out. 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.
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