Family & childrenPOLICY UPDATE
Sought to Acquire Requirement Under the Child Status Protection Act
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to clarify that USCIS considers the recent February 14, 2023, policy change to be an extraordinary circumstance that may excuse the “sought to acquire” requirement under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) in particular situations.
Effective date and application
This guidance, contained in Volume 7 of the Policy Manual, is effective immediately
Key changes
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to clarify that USCIS considers the recent February 14, 2023, policy change to be an extraordinary circumstance that may excuse the “sought to acquire” requirement under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) in particular situations.
- Clarifies that USCIS may excuse an applicant’s failure to satisfy the “sought to acquire” requirement in cases where the applicant did not file their adjustment application because USCIS could not calculate their CSPA age or would have calculated their CSPA age to be over 21 years old under the prior policy, but they are now eligible for CSPA age-out protection under the new policy.7
- Clarifies that USCIS considers applicants whose adjustment of status applications were pending on February 14, 2023, to have satisfied the “sought to acquire” requirement if the applicant had applied for adjustment of status within 1 year of visa availability under the policy guidance in effect at the time of filing.
