USCIS Makes Additional Updates to Policy Guidance for the “Sought to Acquire” Requirement Under the Child Status Protection Act

USCIS Makes Additional Updates to Policy Guidance for the “Sought to Acquire” Requirement Under the Child Status Protection Act

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today issued guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to clarify how to calculate the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) age for a noncitizen who demonstrates extraordinary circumstances that may excuse the “sought to acquire” requirement under the CSPA.

This publication clarifies that:

• USCIS calculates the CSPA age of an applicant who demonstrates extraordinary circumstances using the date that the immigrant visa first became available when the immigrant visa is continuously available for a 1-year period without any intervening visa unavailability; and
• Under circumstances where the immigrant visa became available and then unavailable, USCIS may calculate an applicant’s CSPA age using the date an immigrant visa first became available, if the applicant demonstrates extraordinary circumstances for not applying for adjustment of status before the immigrant visa became unavailable.

This guidance, contained in Volume 7 of the Policy Manual, is effective immediately and applies to applications pending on or after Sept. 25, 2024.

For more information, see the Policy Alert (PDF, 341.45 KB). To provide feedback on this update, please visit the Policy Manual Feedback webpage.

Background
Last year, USCIS published previous policy guidance that revised when an immigrant visa is considered available for the purpose of calculating CSPA age. As a result, we received feedback regarding the CSPA age calculation for adjustment of status applicants who demonstrate extraordinary circumstances before an immigrant visa becomes unavailable either due to visa retrogression or to USCIS changing which chart is designated for filing in a particular immigrant category.

Previous USCIS policy did not address the effect on the age calculation for a noncitizen who demonstrates that extraordinary circumstances existed within the period a visa first becomes available for the purpose of excusing the “sought to acquire” element. We updated this guidance to ensure efficient and consistent adjudication in such cases.  

More Information 
Protect yourself from immigration scams. If you need legal advice on immigration matters, make sure the person helping you is authorized to give legal advice. Visit the Avoid Scams page for information and resources.

For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn.