Brian D. Lerner Immigration Attorney & Deportation Lawyer Blog

Question: I know that President Bush has signed into law the new Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) on August 6, 2002. However, I am very confused on whether this law applies to me. Can you clarify how I know if I have ‘aged-out’ under the new law?

Answer: First, there are sections that apply to Immediate Relatives. Generally, these would be spouses of U.S. Citizens, parents of U.S. Citizens over 21 years of age and sons/daughters of U.S. Citizens who are under 21 years of age and unmarried.

Thus, most of the child age-out provisions will apply to the last category. Here, if the beginning of the family petition is filed BEFORE the child turns 21, then no matter how long it takes, that child will be deemed to be a child for immigration purposes.

Question: What if my parent was a Lawful Permanent Resident when he filed for me and I was under 21 at the time, but now my parent has become a U.S. Citizen?

Answer: In this case, the date that your parent naturalizes will control. Therefore, if your parent naturalized and you were 20 years old, then you will be considered a ‘child’ who will not age-out for this act. Therefore, it would be critical if your parent has not yet naturalized, and you are under 21 years of age, that they immediately begin naturalization proceedings.

Question: What if my friend was married at 18 years of age and then got divorced at 20 years of age? Will he qualify?

Answer: Yes. If his U.S. Citizen parent has petitioned him, then he will automatically move to the preference which is set for single son and daughters of U.S. Citizen Parents.

Question: Is the law retroactive and how do I know if I fall under it?

Answer: It appears as though current interpretation is that if there was a final decision on the case, that it is not retroactive. However, if the case is still pending, it appears that it will fall of the provisions of this act. Please note that the interpretations by the Department of State seem also to indicate that if derivative beneficiaries have not had a final approval on the case, but that the main applicant has, that it still could fall under this act.

Therefore, anyone who has been waiting years for this petition to become current, only to learn that they must wait many more years after becoming a U.S. Citizen, should take advantage of this law right away. All of these interpretations are from the Department of State. They have specifically stated that they might be able to change those interpretations after interagency communications. Therefore, what is stated here might change as time goes on. It hopefully will change to allow even more people fall under the provisions of this particular law.

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