Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)

The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) allows children who are the beneficiaries of certain immigration petitions to retain their classification as a child under U.S. immigration law.

The CSPA was passed to prevent children who are beneficiaries of immigration petitions from “aging out” of the child category when they turn 21. U.S. immigration law defines a child as an unmarried person under 21. Before CSPA, children who turned 21 before their immigration case was finished would “age-out” of the child category and lose their ability to apply for immigration benefits like U.S. permanent residency. CSPA prevents a child from aging out by freezing the child’s age at an earlier stage of the immigration process. This preserves the child’s status as a child under U.S. immigration law.