VISA2US Blog

Foreign workers under the H-1B visa umbrella enjoy the added perk of bringing their spouses and eligible children to the United States. While employed in this category, they have up to six years to live and work in America. During this period, it’s common for children to “age out” of the visa’s eligibility requirements. What happens when your child gets to this point, and is there any way you can keep them in the US with you? We have the details here.

For decades, hundreds of thousands of families have entered the US under work visas like the H-1B, which allows the holder to bring their dependent spouse and children. The H-1B permits the beneficiaries and their families to remain in the US for three years, with an optional three-year extension. But what happens to those minors who outgrow their dependent category during that time? Without a visa, they might be deported. However, the Dream Act of 2023 could change that.

One way to help highly skilled workers who want to move to the United States is to create a more flexible policy for their children to remain in the U.S. past the age of 21.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) defines a child as a person who is both unmarried and under 21 years old. Due to problems relating to administrative backlog and other delays, the Child Status Protection Act was created to help children still qualify as “children” defined in the INA and be eligible to receive their family based visas.