USCIS Makes Additional Updates to Policy Guidance for “Sought To Acquire” Requirement Under Child Status Protection Act

The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) protects certain beneficiaries from losing eligibility for immigrant visas and adjustment of status due to their aging during the immigration process, which can lead to the beneficiary no longer qualifying as a child for immigration purposes. The CSPA provides a method to calculate the noncitizen’s age based on the date an immigrant visa becomes available. To benefit from the calculation, the noncitizen must seek to acquire lawful permanent resident (LPR) status within 1 year of immigrant visa availability. To date, USCIS had not addressed the effect on the CSPA age calculation for a noncitizen whose extraordinary circumstances (for the purpose of excusing the “sought to acquire” element) existed within the period a visa first becomes available.

On September 25, 2024, USCIS clarified that the Agency calculates the CSPA age of an applicant who established extraordinary circumstances and is excused from the sought to acquire requirement using the date that the immigrant visa first became available when that immigrant visa is continuously available for a 1-year period without any intervening visa unavailability. Additionally, in instances where the immigrant visa became available and then unavailable, USCIS may calculate an applicant’s CSPA age using the date an immigrant visa first became available if the applicant demonstrates extraordinary circumstances for not applying for adjustment of status before the immigrant visa became unavailable.

Link: USCIS Makes Additional Updates to Policy Guidance for the “Sought to Acquire” Requirement Under the Child Status Protection Act | USCIS