On August 8, 2025, USCIS announced a policy update on how children’s ages are calculated under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). Starting August 15, 2025, “visa availability” for CSPA is tied to the Final Action Dates (FAD) chart—not the Dates for Filing (DFF) chart.
That single change can greatly impact families seeking Green Cards through the EB-5 program: concurrent filing (I-526E + I-485) no longer locks a child’s age unless the Final Action Date is current at the moment you file (or becomes current later, and you meet the one-year “sought to acquire” rule). USCIS also said it will apply the Feb. 14, 2023 CSPA approach to adjustment applications pending before August 15, 2025, so families who relied on the earlier guidance aren’t penalized.
What does this mean for EB-5 investors with children?
Rural EB-5 projects just became even more attractive for EB-5 investors with children close to 21—particularly for Chinese and Indian families. Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA), Congress reserved 20% of the annual EB-5 visas for rural projects. As of the August 2025 Visa Bulletin, all three set-aside categories, including rural, are current worldwide —while the unreserved EB-5 category is not current for China and India.
USCIS Updates its CSPA Policy
Why Rural EB-5 Minimizes Age-Out Risk Under the New Rule
How the CSPA Policy Works in Practical Terms
Takeaways for Investors
USCIS Updates its CSPA Policy
USCIS’s Aug. 8, 2025 policy alert makes FAD the chart for when a visa “becomes available” for CSPA age calculation. The new guidance applies to requests filed on or after Aug. 15, 2025.
If your I-485 was already pending before that date, USCIS will keep using the Feb. 14, 2023 method (the one that let many applicants rely on the Dates for Filing chart) to avoid changes for investors who acted under the prior rule.
The agency also reiterated the one-year “sought to acquire” requirement and how extraordinary circumstances can excuse late action in appropriate cases.
In summary: from Aug. 15 onward, FAD determines whether your child benefits from the CSPA.
This difference sounds technical, but for EB-5 investors with families it can be crucial. Under the old, more flexible approach, many could file I-485 when DFF was open and effectively “lock” the child’s age while waiting. Now, filing early off DFF no longer locks age; only FAD being current does. That means the real threat to EB-5 investors with dependent children is visa retrogression/backlog. The category of EB-5 project you invest in is now crucial for keeping your child as a valid dependent.
The Visa Bulletin itself reminds applicants that categories can go “unavailable” if annual limits are reached. That warning matters, because under the new CSPA framework an unavailable or retrogressed category keeps your child’s age moving forward until FAD reopens. Timing—on both the filing strategy and the category you pick—now directly affects whether the family immigrates together.
Why Rural EB-5 Minimizes Age-Out Risk Under the New Rule
Two factors make rural EB-5 projects the safest path for families at the moment.
First, visa supply: the RIA permanently reserved 20% of EB-5 numbers for rural, versus 10% for high-unemployment and 2% for infrastructure. That bigger annual allocation creates a thicker “cushion” before rural hits a backlog—especially compared with the smaller high-unemployment category commonly known as “urban.”
As of August 2025, the Final Action Dates chart shows all three set-asides as current across all countries, while the unreserved EB-5 category shows cut-off dates for China and India—an example of how set-asides protect families from age-out risk under the new CSPA math.
Second, visa carryover rules: USCIS confirms that unused set-aside visas stay in the same set-aside category for the following fiscal year, and if still unused after that, they roll into unreserved in the third year. This “hold-and-carry” dynamic can extend rural’s resistance against backlogs by keeping extra rural numbers inside the same category for another year. In practical terms, it reduces the odds that rural will suddenly retrogress and leave families exposed.
There’s also a processing angle: the RIA directs DHS/USCIS to prioritize petitions associated with rural investments. While processing speed doesn’t itself change the CSPA formula, quicker, more predictable adjudications and an agency-level mandate to work rural cases can reduce timeline uncertainty—the kind that often pushes families up against the 21st birthday.
EB5AN’s rural investors have received their physical Green Cards in as little as 9 months.
How the CSPA Policy Works in Practical Terms
Imagine you file an I-526E petition in an unreserved category as a Chinese or Indian investor—and your child is nearing the age of 21. Because USCIS is allowing AOS filings based on the DFF that month, you file I-485 too. Under the new rule, your child’s CSPA age does not stay “frozen” because FAD for unreserved EB-5 India isn’t current. If Final Action Dates stay retrogressed long enough, the child may age out before you can seek benefits based on visa availability. That’s exactly the scenario the August 2025 Visa Bulletin shows as a risk for unreserved India.
Now imagine you do the same but invest in a rural EB-5 project, and your child is aged 20 years and 6 months. You file the same day, and rural is current on the FAD. Under the new rule, that makes it possible to freeze your child’s age. If rural stays current—and the statistics considered above suggest it’s more likely to stay current longer than the 10% high-unemployment category—the age-out risk drops substantially.
Finally, filing in the urban category. Today, high-unemployment is also current on FAD. But with half the allocation of rural, it’s more vulnerable to hitting a wall first if demand surges. If it does retrogress later, newly filing families in that category would lose the ability to lock age until FAD returns to current, whereas rural’s larger allocation and carryover cushion give families more margin.
Remember, the CSPA protects unmarried children who are “under 21” as calculated under the statute, and the age calculation hinges on when a visa “becomes available,” which—starting Aug. 15—means Final Action Dates. To benefit from the calculation, a child must seek to acquire permanent residence within one year of availability. Always consult with your immigration attorney
One more practical point: concurrent filing still exists for many employment-based categories whenever USCIS designates the Dates for Filing chart for the month. It’s still useful for benefits like gaining an EAD/AP—but do not confuse “you can file” with “your child’s age is locked in.” Under the new rule, only FAD can lock the CSPA age on or after Aug. 15, 2025.
Takeaways for Investors
If aging out is at all a possibility for your dependent children, consider investing in the safest project category. Right now, that’s rural EB-5, because it’s current on FAD worldwide, it has double the allocation of high-unemployment set-asides, and it benefits from priority processing, and you could get your family’s Green Cards in a few months. While it’s uncertain exactly how future backlogs may occur, rural still seems to have an ample supply.
Next, your immigration attorney chart your child’s CSPA timeline using FAD, not DFF. Stay up to date with the monthly Visa Bulletins. The bulletin itself warns that categories can be retrogressed or even made “unavailable” late in the fiscal year if annual limits are hit, so keep watching the FAD—not just filing windows.
We are proud to offer several institution-quality rural EB-5 projects, with safeguards such as senior loan structures, corporate repayment guaranties, and I-526E approval guaranties. For more information on making an EB-5 investment that suits your family’s needs, schedule a free consultation with EB5AN.
