Effective immediately, USCIS issued guidance in its Policy Manual to update when an immigrant visa “becomes available” for the purpose of calculating a noncitizen child’s age under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). Under this new guidance, USCIS will now use the “Dates for Filing” chart to calculate a child’s age for CSPA purposes. Under the previous CSPA guidance, USCIS considered a visa available based only on the “Final Action Date” chart, even if an individual could apply for adjustment of status using the earlier date in the “Dates for Filing” chart. 

 This update in USCIS’ policy guidance applies to pending applications and will hopefully provide some welcome relief for qualifying dependents with pending applications who may have otherwise “aged out.” Under the new policy, these individuals may now have a CSPA age that is under 21 based on this change, thereby permitting them to obtain lawful permanent resident status based on their parent’s approved petition.  In addition, qualifying individuals may also file a motion to reopen their previously denied adjustment of status application with USCIS. Although motions to reopen typically should be filed within 30 days of the decision, USCIS may, in its discretion, excuse the untimely filing of the motion if it can be demonstrated that the delay was reasonable and beyond the individual’s control.