Trackers / Child age-out clock

Child age-out clock

For parents of H-4 children: will each child still count as under 21 when your green card date arrives? We project it from your place in the queue, and show the separate H-4 deadline many families miss.

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Two clocks, not one

H-4 status ends on the actual 21st birthday. CSPA protects only the green card case, never H-4. If the green card won't be approved before that birthday, the child needs another status that day, most often F-1 student status. Changing status takes months, so file well before.
CSPA age can be younger than real age. The time your I-140 was pending is subtracted, and the age freezes on the date your priority date is current and the I-140 is approved.
Act within a year. When your date becomes current, the child has to "seek to acquire" the green card (usually by filing an I-485 or paying the fee for consular processing) within one year, or the protection is lost.
Watch the chart. Since August 2025, USCIS counts a visa as available on the Final Action Dates chart, not the Dates for Filing chart. Filing early on the Dates for Filing chart does not freeze the age.

If a child may age out

Talk to an immigration attorney early, ideally when the child is 16 to 18: the options narrow quickly after 21.
F-1 student status is the usual bridge. It needs its own application, school admission and money for fees, and F-1 students pay international tuition in many states.
After a U.S. degree, a child can work on OPT and later be sponsored for their own H-1B or green card.
Some families look at whether a faster category (for example EB-1, or a different employer's petition that keeps the same priority date) could bring the date closer.
Congress has considered bills to protect children of long-term visa holders. See bills we track.

More: kids turning 21 and the CSPA · green card wait estimator

How this works

Two clocks run at once. H-4 status ends on a child's actual 21st birthday; the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) does not extend it. For the green card, CSPA age = the child's age on the date a visa becomes available, minus the days the I-140 was pending. Since August 15, 2025, USCIS treats a visa as available once the I-140 is approved and the priority date is current on the Final Action Dates chart (applications filed before that date keep the older policy). The child must also 'seek to acquire' permanent residence within one year of that date. We project when your date becomes current from how fast the Final Action date has moved in the last 1, 3 and 5 years (the same method as the wait estimator). Simplified: talk to an immigration attorney years ahead, not months.

An estimate, not legal advice. Your own case can differ; talk to an immigration attorney before acting on it.