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. Such provisions and details regarding eligibility are described in the following subsections. The applicants underlying petition was pending for 6 months. See 9 FAM 502.6-4, Diversity Visa Processing. [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. 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. Based on the CSPA rule, she should be still qualified for F2A. Furthermore, the fact of being or having been a child is common to all applicants seeking protection under the CSPA and does not constitute extraordinary circumstances. See AFM 21.2(e) (PDF, 1.82 MB), The Child Status Protection Act of 2002. 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. 5 There are exceptions to this rule for VAWA self -petitioners, and qualifying self petitioning widow(er)s of U.S. citizens. On that date, the child was 21 years and five months. In September 2015, DOS and USCIS announced a revision to the Visa Bulletin, which created two charts of dates. [^ 45] Applicants may file the Form I-824 concurrently with the adjustment application. The CSPA went into effect on August 6, 2002. For DV derivative applicants, the number of days the petition was pending is the period of time between the start of the DV Program registration period and the date of the DV selection letter. 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. CHILD CITIZENSHIP ACT (CCA) If an American Citizen files an immigration petition for a child that is about to reach the age of 18, NVC sends the case to Post with an EXPEDITED . 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. [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. 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. [^ 50] In Matter of O. Vazquez, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled that extraordinary circumstances could warrant the exercise of discretion to excuse an applicant who failed to meet the sought to acquire requirement during the 1-year period. In this case, the age of the child will be frozen as of the date that the I-130 is received by the government. CSPA does not change the definition of a child. [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. A lock ( A locked padlock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. The CSPA went into effect on August 6, 2002. 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. [^ 4] 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. Please see theFiling Feespage for more information. 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]. As that process is ongoing, USCIS has moved any remaining AFM content to its corresponding USCIS Policy Manual Part, in PDF format, until relevant AFM content has been properly incorporated into the USCIS Policy Manual. 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. A visa subsequently becomes available again on October 1, 2021, based on the Dates for Filing chart, which USCIS has designated for use in that month. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating and incorporating relevant Adjudicators Field Manual (AFM) content into the USCIS Policy Manual. and write this SAMPLE letter to the NVC when sending the documents. 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. Sample of CSPA aged appeal letter to NVC (The Child Status Protection Act) Emily Huynh 413 subscribers Subscribe 45 Share 2.5K views 2 years ago This video shows you how to write a letter. If you were under the age of 21 at the time of your parents interview, your age is frozen as of that date and you will not age out. You are 21 years and 4 months old when USCIS considers an immigrant visa available to you. For family and employment-based preference adjustment applicants, the length of time a petition was pending (pending time) is the number of days between the date that it is properly filed (filing date)[30] and the approval date. This guidance is effective immediately and applies to adjustment of status applications we adjudicate on or after Feb. 14, 2023. If the applicants CSPA age is over 21 at the time of subsequent visa availability, the applicant is no longer eligible for CSPA coverage. Limited CSPA Coverage for K-4Nonimmigrants. 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. 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. That is accomplished by filing certain documents within one year of visa availability. 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. [^ 8] For information about the impact of CSPA on applicants for an immigrant visa, see 9 FAM 502.1-1(D), Child Status Protection Act. The month . Generally, in order to qualify, the derivative refugee must be listed as a child on the principal applicants Form I-590 prior to a final decision. Seek or sought to acquire is used as shorthand in this chapter to refer to this requirement. 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. [^ 35] USCIS typically designates one of the two charts within 1 week of the publication of the DOS Visa Bulletin. 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. U.S. [^ 33] For more information, see Chapter 3, Filing Instructions, Section B, Definition of Properly Filed, Subsection 4, Visa Availability Requirement [7 USCIS-PM A.3(B)(4)] and Chapter 6, Adjudicative Review, Section C, Verify Visa Availability [7 USCIS-PM A.6(C)]. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. 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. From the date of visa availability, and provided that the visa remains available for a continuous 1-year period, the applicant has 1 year to fulfill the sought to acquire requirement. [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]. . In order for the immigrant visa to be considered available for CSPA purposes, two conditions must be met: The visa must be available for the immigrant preference category and priority date. 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. L. 107-56 (PDF), 115 Stat. Example: Visa Becomes Unavailable Before Filing. 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. 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. For more information, see Part F, Special Immigrant-Based (EB-4) Adjustment [7 USCIS-PM F]. To create an account, you will need your passport. A visa initially becomes available to the prospective applicant according to the Final Action Dates chart on March 1, 2020, which USCIS designated for use in that month. U.S. Adjustment applicants who fail to fulfill the sought to acquire requirement within 1 year of visa availability may still be able to benefit from CSPA if they can establish that their failure to meet the requirement was the result of extraordinary circumstances.[50]. [^ 24] See Section B, Child Status Protection Act Applicability [7 USCIS-PM A.7(B)] for more information on effective date. In order to qualify as a stepchild, the marriage between your U.S. citizen stepparent and your K3 nonimmigrant parent must have occurred before your 18th birthday. VAWA self-petitioners and derivatives who do not qualify for CSPA may qualify for age-out relief under VTPVA. Therefore, the date the visa is considered available for family and employment-based preference applicants is the later of these two dates: The first day of the month of when USCIS considers a visa available for accepting and processing an adjustment of status application for that immigrant preference category and priority date. CSPA. 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. The applicants age is frozen on the date of the refugee parents interview. The applicant must have been under the age of 21 and unmarried at the time the qualifying Form I-590 was filed. 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. This guidance becomes effective October 2, 2020. If the applicant does not seek to acquire within 1 year of visa availability although the visa was available for a continuous 1-year period, the applicant cannot benefit from the age-out protections of the CSPA. For DVs, the date a visa is considered available is the first day on which the principal applicants rank number is current for visa processing. The applicants calculated CSPA age must be under 21 years old; The applicant must have sought to acquire lawful permanent residence within 1 year of visa availability, absent extraordinary circumstances. The NVC did its CSPA analysis when the priority date became current using Chart A, which was on Oct. 1, 2016. The applicants CSPA age is calculated as follows: 21 years and 4 months - 6 months = 20 years and 10 months. In most cases, you do not need a Form I-130 to get a Green Card if you are a K-2 nonimmigrant.
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