USCIS reverses policy which protected several children of green card applicants from 'ageing out'

A recent announcement from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will have far-reaching consequences for immigrants — including those on H-1B visas — who are waiting for green cards. The agency has narrowed the criteria used to determine whether a child can continue to qualify for a derivative green card under their parent’s application. The change will apply prospectively to adjustment of status applications filed on or after Aug 15, 2025.

Under the revised policy, hundreds of children will no longer remain eligible for their parent’s green card queue once they turn 21 — when they “age out.” The earlier policy, introduced under the Biden administration in Feb 2023, had provided certain children with protection even after their 21st birthday.

The change will disproportionately affect the Indian diaspora, which faces one of the world’s longest waits for an employment-based green card. The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), enacted in 2002, prevents certain unmarried children of green card applicants from losing eligibility if they turn 21 during the lengthy process. The law uses a special age calculation based on “visa availability” to freeze a child’s age under immigration rules.

From February 2023, USCIS had used the more generous ‘Dates for filing chart’ to determine visa availability, giving children a longer window to remain eligible as derivatives on their parent’s application. Starting Aug 15, for adjustment of status filed after that date, USCIS will revert to the ‘Final action dates chart’ — typically less favourable — for calculating age under the CSPA.

Immigration attorneys say that in practical terms, this revision means many children who would have been protected under the previous policy will now risk aging out and losing their path to permanent residency (green card).

According to a March 2023 analysis by David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, the employment-based green card backlog stood at 10.7 lakh for Indians in the employment linked (EB-2 and EB-3 categories). Cato projects that nearly 1.34 lakh children from these families could age out before a green card becomes available — and the more restrictive age calculation could push those numbers higher.

Doug Rand, a former Department of Homeland Security official who helped craft the 2023 policy, criticised the reversal. “It’s such a petty and obnoxious thing to do. Of course, the Trump administration is causing fear and heartbreak at a massive scale, across the immigration system, and this may seem like a small thing in the grand scheme,” he said.