Child Status Protection Act & Options For Aging Out Children

Unmarried children are eligible to file for lawful permanent resident immigrant status ("LPR" status or a "green card") as derivative applicants for Adjustment of Status (AOS) with their primary applicant parent until they turn twenty-one. Congress enacted the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) in 2002 to provide a benefit to children at risk of "aging out" (exceeding the age of 21 before obtaining LPR status) by modifying the way that USCIS determined the age of an applicant child.¹ Since the Department of State (DOS) established the two-chart ("Dates for Filing" and "Final Action Dates") visa bulletin process from October 2015 until earlier this year, the CSPA calculated a child's age as "visa availability date" (when current per the Final Action Date Chart) less the amount of time the immigrant petition (Form I-140, I-130 for example) was pending with USCIS.