Child Status Protection Act ApplicabilityĬSPA applies only to those applicants specified in the statute:įamily-sponsored preference principals and derivatives The resulting age is known as the applicant’s “CSPA age.”ĬSPA does not change the requirement that the applicant must be unmarried in order to remain eligible for classification as a child for immigration purposes.
Instead, CSPA provides methods for calculating an applicant’s age for immigrant visa purposes. Section 101(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) defines a child as a person who is unmarried and under 21 years old. The core purpose of the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) was to alleviate the hardships faced by certain noncitizens who were previously classified as children for immigrant visa purposes, but who, due to the time required to adjudicate petitions, had turned 21 years old and consequently became ineligible to receive such immigrant visas. Purpose of the Child Status Protection Act
