adjusted age on the date the visa becomes available (the priority date becomes current). For the
rest of this article, presume that the priority date is not current when the petition is approved.
Adjusted age is calculated by subtracting the time the petition was pending from the child’s
biological age. For example, if the petition was pending for one year before it was approved, the
child can subtract one year from his or her biological age on the date the petition was approved
or priority date became current (whichever is later) to arrive at the adjusted age. If the child’s
adjusted age is under 21 on that date, he or she will be locked into the F-2A category provided he
or she remains unmarried and “seeks to become an LPR” within one year.
Scenario #2. A U.S. citizen files a petition for a married sibling who has a derivative child. The
same formula is applied to derivative beneficiaries in the preference categories. The time the
petition was pending is subtracted from their biological age on the date the priority date becomes
current; the priority date for the derivative is the same as that for the principal beneficiary. For
example, the child in this case turns 21 after the petition is approved but before the priority date
in the F-4 category becomes current. The child’s adjusted age is their biological age minus the
time the petition was pending; the adjusted age is calculated on the date the priority date
becomes current. If the child’s adjusted age is under 21, he or she will be locked in as a
derivative, provided he or she seeks LPR status within one year.
Beneficiaries in the F-2 category cannot marry without losing their immigration status; marriage
will result in automatic revocation of any approved petition and denial of any pending one. But
that rule does not apply to derivatives in the other preference categories. As long as they are
unmarried on the date they and their principal beneficiary apply for adjustment of status or an
immigrant visa and remain unmarried until they immigrate, they will be considered a derivative.
In other words, they could have married and divorced in the interim. But a divorce that occurs
after the derivative child turns 21 (using biological age) and after a visa becomes available will
not restore the “child” status because the applicant was married at the time of visa availability.
On the other hand, if the derivative child divorces before the visa becomes available, the divorce
will restore the applicant’s “child” status if his or her adjusted age is under 21.
More Complicated: Calculating Adjusted Age if Consular Processing
But what does it mean for a visa to become available or the priority date to become current? That
depends on whether the child is adjusting status or consular processing. If the latter, DOS
interprets it as meaning when the priority date first becomes current using the Visa Bulletin’s
Chart A, Final Action Dates. This could create a dilemma for the beneficiary who is over 21
using his or her biological age but under 21 on the date the priority date becomes current using
Chart B, Dates for Filing.
When the priority date in Chart B become current, the National Visa Center (NVC) will send a
Welcome Letter and fee bill requiring the immigrant visa applicant to respond within one year;
failure to respond will result in petition termination pursuant to INA § 203(g). There is no
guarantee, however, that the child’s adjusted age will still be under 21 when the priority date
becomes current in Chart A, since the child starts to age again from the date the petition is
approved. Paying the immigrant visa fee or filing the DS-260, Application for Immigrant Visa,