Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)

The CSPA is a U.S. law that allows children of parents who filed Form I-130 with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) prior to their “aging out” to still maintain their desired status. In other words, through the CSPA, if the parents of a noncitizen are U.S. citizens, the noncitizen child is eligible to apply for a Green Card in the category that they initially wanted to. This is particularly helpful in cases where the child turns 21 or would otherwise become ineligible due to delays in the processing of their I-130 petition.

There are three main types of individuals who may potentially benefit from the CSPA:

• Children of U.S. Citizens—The unmarried children of U.S. citizens are eligible for lawful permanent residency (a Green Card) in the Immediate Relative (IR) category. If the parents filed the I-130 petition before the child turned 21, the child may still preserve their IR-2 status to avoid wait times in the family preference (F) visa category.
• Children of Green Card Holders—If the parent who is a lawful permanent resident naturalizes, the child will transition to the IR category, and the parent will need to file a separate Form I-130 to preserve the child’s immediate relative status under the CSPA.
• F2B Beneficiaries—The beneficiaries of an F2B visa application could be eligible to benefit from CSPA provisions if the parent Green Card holder naturalizes. The child can decide to convert to the F1 category or stay in the F2B category. In this situation, the child would choose to stay in the F2B category because the F1 category is subject to longer processing times.