USCIS Updates Policy Guidance on the Child Status Protection Act
On September 25, USCIS updated its policy manual guidance on the Child Status Protection Act, clarifying how CSPA age is calculated in special circumstances: for applicants granted an exception to the "sought to acquire" requirement due to extraordinary circumstances where a visa remained available for one year, and for those whose visa became unavailable after being available and who can show the failure to timely apply to adjust status resulted from extraordinary circumstances, CSPA age may be based on the date the immigrant visa first became available.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on September 25 that it had updated the guidance in its Policy Manual regarding the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). The update primarily addresses how to calculate a noncitizen's CSPA age in extraordinary circumstances.
Key points of the update include:
- For applicants who receive an exemption from the 'sought to acquire' requirement due to extraordinary circumstances, if the immigrant visa remains available for one year, their CSPA age will be determined based on the date the immigrant visa first became available.
- If an immigrant visa was available but later became unavailable, applicants may also have their CSPA age calculated using the date the immigrant visa first became available, provided they can show that extraordinary circumstances caused the delay in filing for adjustment of status.
This policy update fills gaps in earlier guidance and sets out clearly how age is calculated under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) in special circumstances. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says the change is intended to allow related cases to be processed more efficiently and consistently.
