Immigrants & Immigration
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US citizens and permanent residents may sponsor relatives, including children, to immigrate to the United States. For immigration purposes, a “child” is someone who is unmarried and under the age of 21. Achieving a green card is a two-step process requiring the parent to file an I-130 petition
and the child to apply for an immigrant visa (if outside the US) or adjustment of status (if within the US).
US citizens
If you are a US citizen sponsoring your child for a green card, your child’s age freezes as of the date that the I-130 petition is filed under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA).
Your child is considered an “immediate relative” eligible for permanent residence even if they turn 21 before their green card application or immigrant visa application is filed or approved.
However, your child must remain unmarried in order to qualify.
If you become a US citizen through naturalization after filing an I-130 petition for your child while you were a permanent resident, your child’s age will be considered frozen as of the date you became a US citizen.
Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR)
Permanent residents may also petition for their children to immigrate to the United States from abroad or apply for adjustment of status from within the country. These children are not considered “immediate relatives” and typically must wait several years between when the I-130 petition is filed and when they can apply for permanent residence.
In contrast to a petition by US citizens, an I-130 petition filed by LPR for their child does not freeze the child’s age on the filing date. Instead, the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) provides a formula to calculate the child’s CSPA age and subsequent eligibility for permanent residence.
In order to calculate the CSPA age for the child, the time that the I-130 petition was pending with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is subtracted from the child’s age at the time when the immigrant visa became available. The time it takes USCIS to process the petition is not counted against the child. For example, if a visa becomes available when the child is 22 years old, and the I-130 petition was pending for 1 year and 6 months, the child’s CSPA age would be 20 years and 6 months. This child would be able to continue with the green card process.
However, your child may “age out” of eligibility for sponsorship even with the CSPA calculation. For example, if the child is 25 years old when a visa becomes available due to immigrant backlogs, and the I-130 petition was pending for 1 year, their CSPA age would be 24 years. This child would no longer be eligible to apply for permanent residence as a “child” of a permanent resident.
