DHS Drops Age-Out Protections for Kids of Green Card Seekers (1)

The Trump administration is reversing a 2023 policy adopted to shield children of H-1B workers from aging out of lawful status while a parent’s green card application is pending.

More than 200,000 “documented dreamers,” or children of long-term temporary visa holders, are at risk of losing their lawful status when they hit the age of 21. The Biden-era policy change extended protections for some as soon as their parents were eligible to submit a green card application, rather than when a visa is available.

Workers from India and China on H-1Bs or other temporary visas can wait decades in green card backlogs because of annual caps on the number of visas for immigrants from a particular country. Although H-1B workers are limited to two three-year periods, they can renew their status indefinitely with an approved immigrant worker petition. Dependent children though can lose their spot in the line for a green card or be forced to leave the US without another lawful status when they turn 21.

Before February 2023, US Citizenship and Immigration Services calculated a young person’s age based on the date a visa became available. The Biden policy used the date when the parent submitted a green card application instead.

USCIS announced Friday it was restoring previous practices, explaining that the 2023 policy change resulted in “inconsistent treatment” of immigrants who applied for permanent residency in the US versus outside of the country.

The current law that protects children of temporary visa holders is ambiguous and requires further Congressional action, said Dip Patel, founder of Improve the Dream, an organization which advocates for documented dreamers.

“We need bipartisan legislation to properly address the issue,” he said.