Rules for Stepchild's Age

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

I want to validate my understanding of the rules for my step-daughter immigrating by a certain age.  I found some old posts, and to summarize....

 

Our marriage occurred when she was 11, we are good there.

My wife has sole custody, we are good there.

Her visa must be issued before she turns 21  ???????

 

Our plan is to move just before her 18th birthday, in June 2022.  I'm want to make sure I understand the rules, in case we decide to postpone for a year.  In which case she would be 18 or 19 in June / July 2023.  Is this ok?

 

Of course, if we did make the decision to postpone, we would have to make the decision before NVC submission or before medical/interview, and postpone those as needed.  There is very little chance of us postponing, but you never know with all the craziness in the world.

[Chancy 6,241]

8 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

Her visa must be issued before she turns 21  ???????

 

Her visa must be issued before CSPA age 21.  As a minor child of a USC, her CSPA age was frozen on the date you filed an I-130 petition for her.  Even if you postpone your move until after her 21st birthday, her CSPA age will remain as whatever it was when you filed.  So, you're good.  No worries.

 

Details on CSPA -- https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-7-part-a-chapter-7

 

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

2 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

Her visa must be issued before CSPA age 21.  As a minor child of a USC, her CSPA age was frozen on the date you filed an I-130 petition for her.  Even if you postpone your move until after her 21st birthday, her CSPA age will remain as whatever it was when you filed.  So, you're good.  No worries.

 

Details on CSPA -- https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-7-part-a-chapter-7

 

Thank you for this!  Yes, I happened across some mentions of CSPA but did not attempt to understand it.  I will take a deeper dive into it.

Edited August 17, 2021 by seekingthetruth

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

13 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

Thank you for this!  Yes, I happened across some mentions of CSPA but did not attempt to understand it.  I will take a deeper dive into it.

OK, for IR, very simple, her CSPA age is the age she was when I filed the I-130, which was 11/30/20.  So 16 years 4 months, give or take.

 

The only thing that makes that null and void is if she marries.  We will keep her locked up away from boys until after we move!  

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

19 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

Thank you for this!  Yes, I happened across some mentions of CSPA but did not attempt to understand it.  I will take a deeper dive into it.

You don’t need to understand it as a USC, you just need to know that the petition needs to be filed before she turns 21.

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

2 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

You don’t need to understand it as a USC, you just need to know that the petition needs to be filed before she turns 21.

And the stay away from boys part! 😁

[Chancy 6,241]

44 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

And the stay away from boys part! 😁

 

You may need to take away her internet access too.  Utah Zoom marriages are a thing now...

 

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

24 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

You may need to take away her internet access too.  Utah Zoom marriages are a thing now...

 

She is a good girl, very pretty now and I'm afraid she will be swept off her feet by some American after we move!  My wife says she will not marry until she is 30!

 

Another sad fact about Covid life here in the Philippines.  She has now been locked up for 18 months we don't have much hope for that to change much in the next 6-12 months.  She will be missing about 2 years of her social life at a time that is very important.  First dates, dances, teenage socializing, etc.  This is very hard on teenagers.  We try to support her as much as possible, but it is tough.  Luckily, she has still done very well in online school, and has friends there.  She is becoming a good guitar player too.

 

I'm feeling proud of all my daughters right now so I will share a picture from 10 days ago.  We got away to Clark and this is in a great place called Cafe Princess.  Worth a visit.  My stepdaughter is in the middle.  High Honors in 11th grade last year, learning guitar and piano, and an excellent artist.  My 7 yo is on the right.  Very smart and reads everything she sees now.  Non-stop talker and never misses anything.  Started 2nd grade this week.  Learning piano and taking Kumon math as well.  My 5 year old is on the left and I just noticed her hand gesture!  I think she was giving the peace sign and messed up!  She is the most mischievous of the bunch, for sure!  She just started kindergarten and is also taking Kumon reading and voice lessons.  She can really belt it out with emotion!

 

 

[Chancy 6,241]

6 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

I'm feeling proud of all my daughters right now so I will share a picture from 10 days ago.

 

They're adorable   But are you sure your daughter wouldn't want to kill you someday for immortalizing her hand gesture on the internet? 

 

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

2 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

They're adorable   But are you sure your daughter wouldn't want to kill you someday for immortalizing her hand gesture on the internet? 

 

I had already posted that on FB and never noticed, and nobody seemed to catch it.  I just noticed it now!

[SalishSea 17,829]

13 hours ago, seekingthetruth said:

I had already posted that on FB and never noticed, and nobody seemed to catch it.  I just noticed it now!

What a great pic!