The DV Program registration period began on Oct. 1, 2012, and the DV selection Letter is dated May 1, 2013. See INA 209(a)(1). See Subsection 4, Determining Age at Time of Visa Availability [7 USCIS-PM A.7(F)(4)]. For DV applicants, the number of days the petition was pending is the period of time between the first day of the DV application period for the program year in which the principal applicant qualified and the date on which notifications that entrants have been selected become available. This technical update clarifies thatcertain child beneficiaries of family-sponsored immigrant visa petitions who are ineligible for the Child Status Protection Act may continue their adjustment of status application if the petition is automatically converted to an eligible category. Hi, Our case was approved 2 days after the childs 21 birthday. It is meant to insure that sons and daughters can immigrate to the US together with their parents. 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. Since your age freezes on the date your stepparent files the Form I-130, you may benefit from the CSPA as long as your stepparent files the Form I-130 before your 21st birthday. Instead, CSPA provides methods for calculating an applicants age for immigrant visa purposes. CSPA went into effect on August 6, 2002. If your LPR parent filed a Form I-130 for you as his or her child and then your parent became a U.S. citizen before you turned 21, your age freezes on the date your parent became a citizen. VAWA self-petitioners and derivatives who age out before adjusting status are considered self-petitioners for preference status, and derivatives retain the priority date of their parents Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant (Form I-360) VAWA self-petition. Your petition was pending for 6 months. For historical versions before June 11, 2021, navigate to the USCIS Policy Manual within the USCIS website at:https://archive.org, Select a date to view the historical version, An official website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, An official website of the United States government, Part R - Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Residence, POLICY ALERT - Age Calculation under Child Status Protection Act, POLICY ALERT - EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, Technical Update - Adding References to the EB-5 Visa Program in Child Status Protection Act Guidance, Technical Update - Replacing the Term Alien, POLICY ALERT - Age and Sought to Acquire Requirement under Child Status Protection Act, POLICY ALERT - Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements Final Rule, Technical Update - Moving the Adjudicators Field Manual Content into the USCIS Policy Manual, Technical Update - Replacing the Term Foreign National, Technical Update - Child Status Protection Act, POLICY ALERT - Child Status Protection Act, POLICY ALERT - Adjustment of Status Policies and Procedures and 245(a) Adjustment, To protect your privacy, please do not include any personal information in your feedback. If you think, you are eligible under CSPA then you must write letters to NVC, Consulate and INS claiming your eligibility to speed up processing on your file. 1 USCIS-PM - Volume 1 - General Policies and Procedures, 7 USCIS-PM - Volume 7 - Adjustment of Status, 9 USCIS-PM - Volume 9 - Waivers and Other Forms of Relief, 10 USCIS-PM - Volume 10 - Employment Authorization, 11 USCIS-PM - Volume 11 - Travel and Identity Documents, 12 USCIS-PM - Volume 12 - Citizenship and Naturalization. So, both you and your brother do qualify for CSPA, you need to write a letter to NVC stating that you and your brother may qualify for CSPA status so please review the situation, Once NVC reviews the case, they will send invoice for you and your brother. [^ 36] See Chapter 6, Adjudicative Review, Section C, Verify Visa Availability, Subsection 5, Visa Retrogression [7 USCIS-PM A.6(C)(5)]. The History tab was added to the USCIS Policy Manual on June 11, 2021, and provides historical versions on and after that date. Example: Visa Becomes Unavailable Before Filing. This technical update to Volume 7 includes references to the EB-5 visa program and Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor, and clarifications regarding the Child Status Protection Act eligibility of derivative applicants of the VAWA-based Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant. For a motion filed more than 30 days after the denial, if the noncitizen demonstrates that the delay was reasonable and was beyond their control, we may, in our discretion, excuse the untimely filing of the motion. See Part L, Refugee Adjustment, Chapter 2, Eligibility Requirements, Section F, Special Considerations for Refugee Adjustment of Status Applicants, Subsection 2, Child Status Protection Act Provisions [7 USCIS-PM L.2(F)(2)]. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is revising its policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to align with the Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements Final Rule, published in the Federal Register on August 3, 2020. CSPA age is frozen on the date the Form I-360 is filed or the date the Form I-130 is automatically converted to a widow(er)s Form I-360. [^ 17] The date a Form I-590 is considered filed is the date of the principal refugee parents interview with a USCIS officer. In order to establish extraordinary circumstances, the applicant must demonstrate that: The circumstances were not created by the applicant through his or her own action or inaction; The circumstances directly affected the applicants failure to seek to acquire within the 1-year period; and. CSPA. Quote Tweet #9 01-15-2003, 12:35 AM Hello Everybody, Regarding "Child Status protection act" (CSPA) On "Retention of priorty of date" in F4- F3 categories. See INA 204(a)(1)(I). He said we need to write a letter to tell them why we believe. U.S. You are 21 years and 4 months old when USCIS considers an immigrant visa available to you. 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. [^ 6] The CSPA protects a derivative refugee from aging out prior to his or her refugee admission, but such protection is not needed at the adjustment stage because a derivative refugee does not need to remain the spouse or child of the principal refugee in order to adjust status under INA 209. The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) was enacted in order to keep immigrant families intact despite family-based and employment-based waiting times which can be long. So my recent CEAC electronic submission story with new information about NVC and CPSA follows: 1) The USCIS approved petition was for a F2A (or F22 - unmarried child under 21 years) 2) NVC CEAC created the case with a F22 visa classification shown on the status page. Congress recognized that many children were aging out due to large USCIS processing backlogs, so it enacted the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) to protect certain children from aging out. As mentioned in the assessment letter, applicants should bring any completed joint-sponsor . [^ 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. The calculated age is the childs CSPA age. This allows some people to remain classified as children beyond their 21st birthday. CSPA CALCULATOR Fill in the fields below for CSPA Calculator * Fields with *are required fields. 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. If you do not know which USCIS office approved your Form I-130, you may call our USCIS Contact Center. [^ 47] For more information, see Subsection 3, Extraordinary Circumstances [7 USCIS-PM A.7(G)(3)]. (recent experience with CSPA). NVC | Interview Appointment - Mygcvisa The CSPA helps preserve the "under 21" age of many children who would otherwise have aged out under the prior law. CSPA applies only to the following people: If you are applying for a Green Card based on one of the categories above, you are eligible for CSPA consideration if either your qualifying Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, or one of the following underlying forms was filed or pending on or after Aug.6, 2002: If you are a derivative refugee, your CSPA age is your age on the date your principal refugee parent or Form I-730 petitioner filed his or her I-590, which is the date of his or her interview with a USCIS officer. Pending time includes administrative review, such as motions and appeals, but does not include consular returns. [^ 49] Though the CSPA technically requires DV derivatives to seek to acquire within 1 year, this requirement does not generally affect DV derivatives, as they are only eligible to receive a visa through the end of the specific fiscal year in which the principal applicant was selected under INA 203(c). If you have a pending adjustment application as a derivative child, and we grant the principal applicants request to transfer the underlying basis of their adjustment application to a different immigrant category based on another approvedpetition, then the date we receive the transfer request is the date we use to determine whether you meet the sought to acquire requirement. [34] DOS publishes a new Visa Bulletin on a monthly basis. Chapter 7 - Child Status Protection Act | USCIS 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. CSPA Age Freeze, Immediate Relatives after turning 21 - Shusterman Law U.S. How to request NVC to apply CSPA to my immigration case so my - Avvo If the applicants CSPA age is over 21 at the time of subsequent visa availability, the applicant is no longer eligible for CSPA coverage. In order for a family-sponsored or employment-based preference or DV applicant to qualify for CSPA, the applicant must meet the following requirements: For family-sponsored (including VAWA)[26] and employment-based preference and DV categories, an adjustment applicants CSPA age is calculated by subtracting the number of days the petition on which the applicant seeks to adjust status was pending (pending time) from the applicants age on the date the immigrant visa becomes available to the applicant (age at time of visa availability). [^ 53] 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. You (not your parent) should send a signed letter stating that you wish to opt out of the conversion from F2B to F1. At that point, USCIS would calculate CSPA age based on the derivatives age on December 1, 2021 (not October 1, 2020). DV applicants also use the DOS Visa Bulletin to determine visa availability. Officers should review the USCIS Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin webpage to determine whether the applicant had a prior 1-year period of visa availability to file for adjustment of status. The formula determining the length of time the petition was pending is as follows: Approval Date - Filing Date = Pending Time. The derivative applicants CSPA age is calculated using the petition underlying the principal beneficiarys adjustment of status application, in other words, the second Form I-140. In October 2020, USCIS designates the Dates for Filing chart of the DOS Visa Bulletin for use to apply for adjustment of status in the employment-based preference categories. 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. Ineffective assistance of counsel, when certain requirements are met. [^ 22] See INA 203(h)(1)(A). So long as the child was under 21 on the date of the interview, he or she will not age out of eligibility for derivative refugee status or adjustment of status. If the petitioner of a pending or approved immediate relative spousal petition dies, their spouses Form I-130 automatically converts to a widow(er)s Form I-360. In order to benefit from CSPA as a family preference (including VAWA self-petition), employment-based preference, or DV applicant, you must seek to acquire lawful permanent resident status within 1 year of when a visa becoming available to you for filing an adjustment of status application. [12] The widow(er)s child(ren), if any, must be under the age of 21 and unmarried at the time of the petitioners death to be classified as derivatives on the automatically converted Form I-360, regardless of whether the child(ren) had a separate pending or approved Form I-130 at the time of the petitioners death. 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. NVC Timeline for Consular Processing Post I-526, I-140 or I-130 The CSPA age is calculated based on the new visa availability date of October 1, 2021 (not October 1, 2020), and locked in as of that date provided that the visa remains available and the applicant seeks to acquire during that 1-year period. 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. Only the applicants who are listed on the interview appointment letter issued by the NVC must appear to be interviewed at the scheduled time. While K nonimmigrants are not covered under CSPA, K-2 and K-4 nonimmigrants may benefit from CSPA under certain limited circumstances. This page was not helpful because the content: Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants, Green Card for Family Preference Immigrants, Green Card for an Immediate Relative of a U.S. Citizen, Fiscal Year 2023 Employment-Based Adjustment of Status FAQs, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin, While Your Green Card Application Is Pending with USCIS, International Travel as a Permanent Resident, Rights and Responsibilities of a Permanent Resident, Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 7, Part F, Section 2, of the USCIS Policy Manual, Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. Examples of extraordinary circumstances that may warrant a favorable exercise of discretion include, but are not limited to: Serious illness or mental or physical disability of the applicant during the 1-year period; Legal disability, such as instances where the adjustment applicant suffered from a mental impairment, during the 1-year period; Instances where a timely adjustment application was rejected by USCIS as improperly filed and was returned to the applicant for corrections where the deficiency was corrected and the application re-filed within a reasonable period thereafter; Death or serious illness or incapacity of the applicants attorney or legal representative or a member of the applicants immediate family; and. As per CSPA calculator, his CSPA age remains under 21 till November 2017. [27] The formula for calculating CSPA age is as follows: Age at time of visa availability - Pending time = CSPA Age, While an applicant must file an adjustment application or otherwise seek lawful permanent resident status in order to benefit from CSPA, the date the applicant files an adjustment application is not relevant for the CSPA age calculation.[28]. The month . The historical versions linked below reflect the pertinent policy in effect on that date and dates reflect when updates occurred. [31] In other words, the pending time is the period of time between the start of the DV Program registration period to the date of the DV Selection Letter. The date the visa is considered available is the later of these 2 dates: For DVs, the date a visa is considered available for CSPA purposes is the first day on which the DOS can allocate a visa number based on the principal applicants rank number. The noncitizen cannot benefit from the age-out protections of the CSPA. For more information about K-1 and K-2 nonimmigrant visas, see the Fianc(e) Visas page. 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. If an applicant has multiple approved petitions, the applicants CSPA age is calculated using the petition that forms the underlying basis for the adjustment of status application. You should not have your exam until your interview has been scheduled. However, we called NVC and was told that she was moved to F2B. Unlike derivative refugees, you must be unmarried in order to qualify for a grant of derivative asylum and to qualify for a Green Card under INA section 209. CSPA (Child age Calculator) - greencardpetitions.com [^ 42] Submitting a Form DS-260 that covers only the principal applicant does not meet the sought to acquire requirement for a derivative child. 1 USCIS-PM B - Part B - Submission of Benefit Requests, 7 USCIS-PM A - Part A - Adjustment of Status Policies and Procedures, 7 USCIS-PM F - Part F - Special Immigrant-Based (EB-4) Adjustment, 7 USCIS-PM M - Part M - Asylee Adjustment, 11 USCIS-PM A - Part A - Secure Identity Documents Policies and Procedures. Here are the details: * The child is studying in the U.S. His parents acquired permanent residency in 2011 and applied for an I-130 for him in 2011 when he was approx. For purposes of adjustment of status of a derivative refugee, CSPA protection is not needed because a derivative refugee does not need to remain the child of the principal refugee in order to adjust status under INA 209. Unfortunately, the CSPA requires that if a child is eligible, the child must "seek to acquire" a visa within one year. Limited CSPA Coverage for K-2 Nonimmigrants. [3] CSPA does not alter this definition. See Section G, Sought to Acquire Requirement [7 USCIS-PM A.7(G)]. The visa remains available to the prospective applicant through March 2021, that is, for a continuous 1-year period of visa availability. [^ 11] See Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), Pub. Yes. L. 106-386 (October 28, 2000). In other words, the applicants age is frozen on the date the Form I-589 is filed. (CSPA) you can "opt out" of conversion to the F1 visa category and remain an F2B visa applicant . You will need the ten (10) digit barcode number from your DS-260 confirmation page to book your appointments. Generally, in order to establish eligibility, a derivative asylee must have been listed on the principal applicants Form I-589 prior to a final decision on the principals asylum application. [15], CSPA allows children who turn 21 years old after a refugee application is filed but prior to adjudication to continue to be classified as children and remain eligible for derivative refugee status. Review our. The adjustment applicant must have had one of the following pending on or after the CSPAs effective date: a qualifying Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition (, The applicant must have been under the age of 21 and unmarried at the time the principal asylum applicants. Limited CSPA Coverage for K-4Nonimmigrants. Adjustment applicants are eligible for CSPA consideration if either the qualifying application (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form I-485)) or one of the following underlying forms was filed or pending on or after the effective date: Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130); Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant (Form I-360); Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Form I-140); Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor (Form I-526); Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor (Form I-526E); Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal (Form I-589); Registration for Classification as a Refugee (Form I-590); or, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition (Form I-730). Once a Processing Complete Letter has been issued, NVC "closes" the file and places it in a queue for future use. NVC may add a child to the fee bill if the child's CSPA age is under 21 on the first day of visa availability, or may defer to the consulate to make the decision to add a CSPA-age-adjusted child as a derivative. L. 106-386 (PDF) (October 28, 2000). See9 FAM 502.6-4, Diversity Visa Processing. It helps lock in the age and preserve the "child" status of both immediate relatives and those in the preference categories. The derivative may be eligible to retain the priority date from the first Form I-140, but the CSPA calculation uses the second petition, because this is the petition through which the principal beneficiary obtained adjustment of status and that forms the basis for the applicants adjustment of status application. [^ 1] See Pub. Hello there, Congratulations, you and your brother both qualify for CSPA, what you should do is when you send supporting documents for your parents to the NVC, send a letter to the NVC with your and your brother's name, date of birth and ask NVC to review the file since you may qualify for CSPA. For more information about applying for a Green Card as a K-1 or K-2 nonimmigrant, see the Green Card for Fianc(e) of U.S. Citizen page. 272, 362 (October 26, 2001). [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. [45], USCIS also considers a written request to transfer the underlying basis of the adjustment of status application to satisfy the sought to acquire requirement if the request is received within 1 year of an immigrant visa becoming available in the new preference category. [^ 29] A transfer request potentially affects the CSPA age calculation for the derivative beneficiaries. If you are a K-4 nonimmigrant, you are eligible for CSPA because you will apply for a Green Card as an immediate relative based on a Form I-130 filed by your U.S. citizen stepparent. [^ 9] Pending time may also include administrative review, such as motions and appeals, but does not include consular returns. [^ 7] See Section H, Summary of Child Status Protection Act Applicability [7 USCIS-PM A.7(H)] for a condensed guide to basic provisions for each category of CSPA-eligible immigrants. When your stepparent files a Form I-130 for you, you become an immediate relative who can use the CSPA when applying for a Green Card. CSPA applies only to those applicants specified in the statute: Family-sponsored preference principals and derivatives; Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petitioners and derivatives;[4], Employment-based preference derivatives;[5]. [^ 28] See Section G, Sought to Acquire Requirement [7 USCIS-PM A.7(G)] for detailed information. Official websites use .gov When considering a claim of extraordinary circumstances, the officer should weigh the totality of the circumstances and the connection between the circumstances presented and the failure to meet the sought to acquire requirement within the 1-year period, as well as the reasonableness of the delay. [^ 23] Qualifying underlying forms include Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130); Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant (Form I-360);Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers (Form I-140); Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor (Form I-526); and Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor (Form I-526E). Requesting NVC for IV fee invoice for child because case might apply CSPA [^ 10] See Matter of Avila-Perez (PDF), 24 I&N Dec. 78 (BIA 2007). [13], Similarly, the beneficiary of a pending or approved spousal Form I-130 may subsequently file a VAWA-based Form I-360. 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. If you are a derivative asylee, your CSPA age is your age on the date your principal asylee parent or Form I-730 petitioner filed his or her Form I-589. [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]. [^ 19] See Part L, Refugee Adjustment, Chapter 2, Eligibility Requirements, Section F, Special Considerations for Refugee Adjustment of Status Applicants, Subsection 2, Child Status Protection Act Provisions [7 USCIS-PM L.2(F)(2)].