CHILD STATUS PROTECTION ACT INFO

The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) is an "age-out" protection for certain immigration cases. It was signed into law on August 6, 2002. It applies to immigrant visa cases initiated after that date, but has a more limited applicability to cases that were already in progress on August 6, 2002.

CSPA was enacted to address the problem of minor children losing their eligibility for immigration benefits because they had aged-out or turned 21 years old as a result of processing delays on the part of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or the Department of State. It was not intended to benefit an applicant who aged-out due to the unavailability of a visa number.

The eligibility of an applicant for benefits under the aging-out provisions of the CSPA may be determined only at the time a visa application is adjudicated by a consular officer.