US green card age rule change: How it may hit children, H-1B visa holders

US to tighten green card age rules from August 15, putting thousands of Indian children at risk of losing eligibility once they turn 21

A recent change by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will narrow the eligibility for children to remain on their parent’s green card application, affecting thousands of immigrant families — including many on H-1B visas.

 

From August 15, 2025, adjustment of status applications will be assessed under a stricter standard. Children turning 21 before approval will lose eligibility unless they qualify under the revised Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) calculation.

 

How the rule has changed

 

Under the Biden administration’s February 2023 policy, USCIS used the more generous “dates for filing” chart to decide if a child’s age could be frozen under the CSPA, giving families extra time. From August 15, the agency will revert to the “final action dates” chart — a less favourable benchmark that often shortens the protection window.

 

“The Immigration and Nationality Act defines a child as a person who is both unmarried and under 21 years old,” USCIS explained in its announcement. “If someone applies for lawful permanent resident status as a child but turns 21 before being approved, that person can no longer be considered a child for immigration purposes. This is commonly referred to as ‘ageing out’.”

 

USCIS said Congress had created the CSPA in 2002 to address backlogs causing children to lose eligibility before their case was decided. The law allows an age calculation — the “CSPA age” — that can keep a child under 21 for immigration purposes even after their actual birthday, but only if they remain unmarried.

 

Why this matters for Indian families

 

The change will hit the Indian diaspora particularly hard. India has one of the world’s longest waits for an employment-based green card, with backlogs stretching into decades.

 

A March 2023 analysis by David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, found a queue of 1.07 million Indians in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories. Bier projected that nearly 134,000 children in these families could age out before a green card becomes available — a figure that could now rise under the revised calculation.

 

How the CSPA works

 

For employment-based green card cases, several conditions must be met for a child to remain eligible:

 

• The I-140 petition must be approved

• The I-485 adjustment of status application must be filed

• The priority date must be current

• The child must be under 21 after subtracting the time the I-140 was pending

 

For example, if an I-140 was pending for one year, that year is deducted from the child’s age. The same principle applies in family-based cases using the I-130 petition.

 

Impact of the new calculation

 

“This means that some children, even with a filed I-485, could lose eligibility if they turn 21 before the final action date is current,” said Reddy Neumann, a US-based immigration attorney. “This change essentially reverts the policy to how it was before the more flexible approach in recent years.”

 

Neumann added, “Once a child’s age is locked in under CSPA, no further worry is needed. But for those not yet protected, timing is crucial. While it’s possible to file the I-485 with a pending I-140, the age lock-in only occurs when the I-140 is approved and the final action date is current.”

 

Doug Rand, a former Department of Homeland Security official who worked on the 2023 policy, called the change unnecessary. “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.

 

What should applicants do?

 

Attorneys may consider strategies such as adjusting premium processing timelines to maximise the pending period of an I-140, which can benefit age calculations. “This is a case-by-case decision that should be carefully planned with legal advice,” said Neuman