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New US citizenship rules take effect August 15
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Policy shift changes age calculation method under Child Status Protection Act, threatening eligibility for thousands
The United States has announced a major policy revision that could significantly affect the green card eligibility of Indian-origin children in America. The new guidance, issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on August 8, will take effect from August 15, 2025, and changes how a child’s age is calculated under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) , reported livemint.com.
Under the revised rule, a visa will be considered “available” for CSPA age calculation only when it reaches the Final Action Dates chart of the Department of State’s monthly Visa Bulletin. This marks a significant shift from the current Dates for Filing method, which allowed families to lock in their child’s age earlier, even if a visa was not yet available.
From August 15, CSPA age will be calculated using ‘Final Action Dates’ instead of ‘Dates for Filing’—delaying eligibility for many
The CSPA, introduced in 2002, was designed to protect children from “aging out” while waiting in the green card backlog. According to US immigration law, a child is defined as an unmarried individual under the age of 21. However, the backlog for certain categories—particularly for Indian families in the EB-2 and EB-3 employment-based green card queues—can span years or even decades.
With the Final Action Dates method, children who turn 21 before their visa number becomes available risk losing eligibility for lawful permanent residency as dependents. This means they may have to switch to a student visa (F-1) or another temporary status while their parents continue toward permanent residency.
USCIS clarified that the old policy will still apply to applications filed before August 15, 2025, provided they meet the earlier criteria. In certain cases, if applicants can prove extraordinary circumstances for not applying earlier, USCIS may still calculate CSPA age under the February 14, 2023, policy.
