The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)
The Child Status Protection Act of 2002 became effective on August 6, 2002. The CSPA was enacted to preserve child status for certain beneficiaries who would otherwise “age out” (turn 21 years old before they could be issued a visa) due to administrative delays in visa processing.
The CSPA age is the result of subtracting the number of days that the IV petition was pending with USCIS (from date of receipt to date of approval, including any period of administrative review) from the actual age of the applicant on the date that the visa became available. Please note that in some cases, such as employment preferences cases based on the filing of a labor certification, the priority date is not the same as the petition filing date. The petition filing and petition approval dates are the only relevant dates. Time waiting for a labor certification to be approved or for a priority date to become current is not taken into account.
We are unable to calculate an applicant’s CSPA until the priority date of his or her case is current and the case is in our office. Once this happens, individuals who believe that they qualify for visa issuance under the Act should contact us to receive a letter allowing them to come to the Consulate’s Immigrant Visa section on any working day from 1:00 to 2:00 PM (except Wednesdays). Applicants can also wait until their family’s interview date for the determination. Please check the Consular Calendar for days our office is closed.
No CSPA determination will be made without a formal application (including fee). All applicants will be required to:
1. Complete form DS-230 (Part 1 and 2)
2. Present a valid passport and birth certificate
3. Present an Interview Appointment Letter and/or Notice of Approval (I-797/I-797C/I-171)
4. Pay the non-refundable application fee of $230 (if not already paid through NVC)
Note: The CSPA does not apply to K visas. In family and employment-based preference, Diversity Visa (DV), and Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) cases the alien must seek to acquire Legal Permanent Resident status within one year of visa availability. The one year requirement does not apply in Immediate Relative (IR) or Immediate Beneficiary (IB) cases. The one year requirement generally means that the applicant must have submitted the completed DS-230, Part I within one year of a visa becoming available.
For further information about the CSPA, please click here and http://travel.state.gov/visa/laws/telegrams/telegrams_1429.html