The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated its rules for calculating a noncitizen’s age for an immigrant visa to be available. This clarifying change allows more dependent noncitizen children to be able to qualify for a green card under their parent’s approved petition.
Generally, a child must be under the age of 21 to be able to become a lawful permanent resident based on their parent’s approved petition for a family-sponsored or employment-based visa. If the child turns 21 while their application is under review, the child would no longer be able to adjust status through their parent’s petition. The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) allows certain noncitizen children to be able to adjust to lawful permanent resident status, even after turning 21, with a method of adjusting the child’s age to be considered when an immigrant visa becomes available.
The Department of State’s monthly visa bulletin is used to determine when an immigrant visa number becomes available. Before, USCIS used the Final Action Date chart to calculate the child’s qualifying CSPA age. The child’s calculated age needed to be under 21 by the time their parent’s petition priority date was listed under the bulletin’s Final Action Date chart. However, due to long processing times, noncitizen children would no longer qualify by the time a visa became available even if they previously applied to adjust status. The agency will now use the Dates for Filing chart, which includes earlier dates, to determine when an immigrant visa is available to calculate the child’s CSPA age when used for an adjustment of status. This updated method makes it clear for certain noncitizen children to know they will be able to adjust status as a child, even if their actual age is over 21.
This policy change was put into effect immediately on February 14, 2023, and applies to pending applications. Individuals who had their application denied because of the prior policy may file a Motion to Reopen their adjustment of status case with USCIS by using Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion. Motions to reopen a case must be filed within 30 days of the decision, however, USCIS may decide to excuse the late filing if the individual shows that the delay was reasonable and beyond the individual’s control.
If you have any questions regarding this updated policy and how it impacts your eligibility to adjust status, or any other immigration related matter, please do not hesitate to contact KILO Immigration by filling out this contact form.