Various students of Indian origin who are living in United States are stuck in green card queues. To overcome the situation, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) calculated the age of non-citizens. This in certain situations makes immigrant Visa Numbers “available”. The same was announced under Child Status Protection Act (CSPA).
Children of Indians who age out of their parents’ green card petition when they turn 21 will benefit from this USCIS policy change.
Incidentally, this policy change for children of green card applicants was suggested by the Asian American Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AA & NHAPI) Commission, which President Joseph Biden appointed, at its meeting in December 2022, along with others. In accordance with the recommendations of the immigration and citizenship subcommittee, Ajay Bhutoria, a commissioner in the AA & NHAPI Commission, had proposed that USCIS permit children who have reached adulthood to keep the green card application priority date of the visa petition submitted by their parents’ employers.
According to Bhutoria, allowing aged-out children to retain their parents’ priority date will ensure that they do not have to re-start the green card application process from scratch and will assist approximately 250,000 kids who are ageing out because they are dependent on their parents’ applications who are experiencing lengthy green card delays.
A child must typically be under the age of 21 in order to qualify for lawful permanent resident status in the US based on the petition for a family-sponsored, employment-based visa or green card that has been authorized by their parents. According to the parent’s petition, the child is typically no longer qualified to immigrate with the parent if they turn 21 and “age out” during the immigration procedure.
According to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), a child is someone who isn’t married and is younger than 21 years old. Nowadays, individuals who apply for lawful permanent resident (LPR) status as minors but reach the age of 21 before receiving approval (also known as receiving a green card) are no longer regarded as children for immigration purposes.
Dip Patel, the founder of Enhance The Dream, a group that advocates for children of legal immigrants, welcomed this policy change and said: “We are pleased to the USCIS for adopting this specific, sensible reform. Many young people who barely age out of the system after growing up here will see a major change in their lives. While this is a fantastic move, it only affects a relatively small percentage of youngsters who are growing older. We aim to continue working for more comprehensive administrative and legislative solutions like the America’s Children Act since much bigger improvements are both required and feasible.
Patel noted that Better The Dream had long asked for this modification, which the USCIS has now formally made.
Dip Patel, the founder of Enhance The Dream, a group that advocates for children of legal immigrants, welcomed this policy change and said: “We are pleased to the USCIS for adopting this specific, sensible reform. Many young people who barely age out of the system after growing up here will see a major change in their lives. While this is a fantastic move, it only affects a relatively small percentage of youngsters who are growing older. We aim to continue working for more comprehensive administrative and legislative solutions like the America’s Children Act since much bigger improvements are both required and feasible.
Patel noted that Better The Dream had long asked for this modification, which the USCIS has now formally made.
Patel cautions that despite the fact that this is assisting youngsters who are just about to reach adulthood, tens of thousands of people who have lived in the US for decades will still reach adulthood. “My guess is that those who have already reached adulthood will benefit at least a few thousand children. Nevertheless, it’s likely that a further few thousand will be safeguarded for subsequent years, particularly in light of the “retrogression” swings in the visa bulletins in previous years, he said.
Better The Dream is pushing for much more comprehensive legislative changes, such as a new pathway to green cards and freezing the dates for children at the moment of application/priority date for legal permanent residency.
“I just hope they don’t attempt to pass this off as the one huge change for us and stop, since in that aspect, it’s a really limited and straightforward manual modification. It is crucial to remember that, despite being a significant shift, it only benefits a small group of children of long-term visa holders. But getting them to do it took a long time,” Patel added.
He continued by saying that his group would keep pushing for bicameral legislation like the America’s Children Act.
