Child Status Protection Act 2022
By Julie Sparks in DACA | on 2022-02-17 09:11:00
If you have questions about the Child Status Protection Act, speak with a DACA lawyer right away.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), a child status protection as a child but turns 21 before being approved for immigration benefits, then that individual can no longer be a child for immigration purposes. This is a situation commonly referred to as “aging out” and typically means those affected may have to file a new petition or application, wait for an even longer period to get a Green Card, or may altogether no longer be eligible for a lawful permanent resident.
Unfortunately, many applicants aged out during the long processing times owing to a large number of petitions and applications being filed, creating a backlog.
To address this issue, Congress passed, and the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) was enacted to protect certain children from aging out. The law went into effect on August 6, 2002.
Child Status Protection Act provides a means of calculating a person’s age to see if they meet the definition of a child for immigration purposes. The output of the calculation is the child’s “CSPA applicant’s age,” which allows some individuals to remain classified as children for purposes of immigration beyond their 21st birthday. However, to be eligible for Child Status Protection Act, one must still be unmarried to remain classified as a child.
Child Status Protection Act 2022 Applicability and Eligibility
The following people are eligible to receive protection under the status protection act CSPA:
- Immediate relatives
- Family-based preference primary applicants and derivative applicants
- Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) derivative applicants
- Employment-based preference derivative applicants
- Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petitioners and derivative applicants
- Derivative refugees; and
- Derivative asylees.
Immediate Relatives of Child’s Age Under 21
To qualify for Child Status Protection Act:
- The person filing Form I-485 Application To Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status must have one of these forms approved or pending:
- A qualifying Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130)
- A Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant (Form I-360)
- Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status(Form I-485)
- To apply for Child Status Protection Act, the child’s age must be younger than 21 and unmarried at the time they file their Form I-130 or Form I-360.
- The applicant must remain unmarried.
CSPA Firm focus on Immigration Law Can Help
A common question our immigration attorney at J. Sparks Law, PLLC gets is whether someone who had their application for a permanent resident denied for aging out can have their case reopened to get their green card approved under Child Status Protection Act. Under a new USCIS, yes, the agency will accept, without an immigrant visa fee. A motion to reopen or reconsider a denied I-485 application if the following criteria are met:
- A visa petition was approved before Aug. 6, 2002, and an application for a green card (I-485) was filed after Aug. 6, 2002
- The applicant would have been deemed to be under the age of 21 for immigration purposes under applicable CSPA rules
- The applicant applied for permanent residence not more than one year after a visa became available
- The application for a green card was denied solely because the applicant aged out
Seek Help from an Austin Child Status Protection Act Attorney
If you have applied for a permanent residence and have issues or concerns about being aged out from cspa age, contact our immigration law office today for a consultation.
Julie Sparks is Board-certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Immigration and Nationality Law, one of a few such attorneys in Texas. After 15 years of practice in this field, she has represented immigrants from more than 70 countries.
Ms. Sparks is a member of the Texas Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Julie has also been a featured speaker at Southwestern Law School and at the national 2015 AILA Fundamentals Conference.
- 15 years of practice in this field.
- She also founded and managed a non-profit organization representing indigent immigrants seeking asylum.
- Julie is a former immigration law instructor at the Pepperdine School of Law in Malibu, California, and California State University – Los Angeles.
