FOR most people, there is no better gift for their 30th birthday than a greencard from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Our client, Celine, agrees. A few days from now, she will be celebrating her 30th birthday. This will be her most memorable birthday celebration because a few days ago, the USCIS allowed her to adjust her status in the United States as a derivative beneficiary of the approved immigrant petition filed by her grandfather in behalf of her father in 1988 despite the fact that she is about to turn 30 years old on June 30, 2010.
More than a year ago, we helped her younger sister, Kathrina, then 25 years old, obtain a greencard as a derivative beneficiary of the same immigrant petition filed by their grandfather in behalf of their father in 1988 pursuant to the aged-out provisions of the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). Kathrina’s story appeared in our previous articles. Unfortunately, we were not able to file Celine’s case at that time together with Kathrina’s case because the CSPA rules then were not favorable to her case.
Under the age-out provision of the CSPA, the age of an otherwise aged-out beneficiary is recalculated and frozen at an earlier time – provided, certain conditions are met – thereby permitting the beneficiary to remain classified as "child" for the purpose of pursuing his or her immigrant visa application as a minor dependent of the principal beneficiary of the petition.
Because the CSPA is a complex new law and the USCIS has not yet issued any regulations implementing said law, the rules pertaining said law changes from time to time.
Recently, certain changes were made to the rules regarding the requirements for re-computation of age under the CSPA. We immediately informed Celine and her family that the CSPA rules now have become favorable to her case. Trusting our expertise and successful track record on the matter, Celine and her family retained our firm right away and requested us to immediately file her case.
When we filed her case, we submitted a 12-page memorandum explaining in detail why she should still be allowed to retain classification as a "child" under the CSPA despite the fact that she is already 29 years old and is about to turn 30 years old on June 30, 2010. During her interview last March, we reiterated our arguments to the USCIS officer handling her case.
The USCIS officer agreed with us and the rest is now history. Her 30th birthday will now always be remembered as the day when the best of her dreams came true.
If you want to know more about this topic, then we invite you to schedule an appointment for your free initial office consultation by calling us at (818) 956-8844 [Glendale] or at (626) 331-8188 [Covina]. You may also visit us at www.palacioslawfirm.com.
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Attorney Eugene M. Palacios is the founder and principal of the Law Offices of Eugene M. Palacios. He has great depth of experience and a successful track record in handling employment and family-based petitions as well as PERM and naturalization applications. He is licensed as an attorney in California and is admitted to practice before US Immigration Courts, the US Central District Court, and California State Courts. He is also an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association. His offices are located at 100 North Brand Boulevard, Suite 600 , Glendale , California 91203 and at 800 South Barranca Avenue, Suite 250 , Covina , California 91723 .
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The above article does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice for a specific immigration problem and does not create an attorney-client relationship between our office and the reader. It is for informational purposes only and reflects our law firm’s opinions and views on general issues.
( Published June 26, 2010 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. C3 )
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