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US rule change may end Green Card hopes for Indian-American kids
The change, effective for applications filed on or after Aug.15, replaces the earlier use of the Dates for Filing chart.
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Malvika Choudhary - Sat, 09, Aug 2025
- 13:10 EDT
- 24
Representative image / Pexels
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a significant policy update that could jeopardize green card eligibility for many Indian-American children in the EB-2 and EB-3 visa categories, where visa backlogs already stretch for years.
In an Aug. 8 statement, USCIS said it is updating its policy to clarify that, for the purposes of calculating age under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), a visa will now be considered “available” based on the Final Action Dates chart of the Department of State’s Visa Bulletin.
Also Read: U.S. may lose 150K international students this fall: Report
The change, effective for applications filed on or after Aug.15, replaces the earlier use of the Dates for Filing chart. The shift is significant because Final Action Dates generally lag Dates for Filing by years.
For dependent children – who must be unmarried and under 21 to qualify as a “child” under the Immigration and Nationality Act – the delay increases the risk of “aging out” before the visa becomes available, thereby losing eligibility to adjust status as dependents under their parents’ approved petitions.
Under the CSPA, enacted in 2002, certain children are protected from losing eligibility due to green card backlogs. The earlier policy allowed families to “lock in” a child’s age earlier, even before the visa was ready for approval. Under the new rule, eligibility is calculated only when the visa can be issued, significantly narrowing that protection.
USCIS confirmed that the Feb.14, 2023, CSPA policy will continue to apply to adjustment of status applications pending before Aug.15. Applicants who failed to apply within one year of visa availability due to “extraordinary circumstances” during that period may still have their CSPA age calculated under the 2023 rules.
For many Indian families, the change could mean that children approaching 21 may lose their place in line. Those who age out may need to switch to temporary statuses such as the F-1 student visa, even as their parents move forward toward lawful permanent residency.
Immigration attorneys warn that the new guidance could split families and further complicate the already lengthy green card process for Indian-origin applicants stuck in the decades-long backlog.
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