Scialabba v. Cuellar de Osorio
Supreme Court of the United States · No. 12-930, 573 U.S. 41 (2014)
The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) lets certain derivative beneficiaries of a family petition keep their place in line if they turn 21 ("age out") while a petition is pending.
Decided
2014-06-09
Summary
The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) lets certain derivative beneficiaries of a family petition keep their place in line if they turn 21 ("age out") while a petition is pending. The statute contains language that can be read two different, conflicting ways for one category of aged-out beneficiary. The Supreme Court held (5–4, no majority opinion) that this ambiguity meant USCIS's own narrower interpretation — limiting which aged-out beneficiaries can keep their original priority date — was a permissible reading the agency was entitled to adopt.
Current status
This is the current operative standard: USCIS's narrower CSPA interpretation controls for the beneficiary category this case addressed. Whether a specific derivative beneficiary retains their original priority date after aging out depends closely on their exact category and petition history — a case-specific question for an attorney, not something this app's general explanation can resolve.
Source: Justia: Scialabba v. Cuellar de Osorio, 573 U.S. 41 (2014)
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