What EB-5
Investors Need
to Know about
the CSPA
by Stephen Yale-Loehr
The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) is important for
EB-5 investors who have children nearing the age of 21. The
U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act defines a “child” as an
individual who is unmarried and under the age of 21. Once a
child turns 21, he or she is no longer eligible for immigration
benefits based on the relationship to the parent. This is known as
“aging out.” Before enactment of the CSPA in 2002, a derivative
child who turned 21 before the parent obtained his or her green
card was no longer considered a child for immigration purposes.
Such individuals had to apply for their own green cards.
The CSPA, however, explicitly covers EB-5 petitions. A
child’s age essentially freezes on the date the I-526 petition is
filed until the date the I-526 petition is approved. This helps
protect the child of an EB-5 investor from aging out as long
as the I-526 petition was filed before the child’s 21st birthday.
Once the I-526 petition is approved, the child’s age unfreezes
and he or she must seek to acquire permanent residence within
one year of a visa becoming available.
USCIS has interpreted the “sought to acquire” permanent
residence element as satisfied if the child files an application
for adjustment of status, an immigrant visa application, or is
the beneficiary of an I-824 within one year of the immigration
petition approval date (or visa becoming available subsequent to
petition approval date, whichever is later). The Department of
S FFR