II
Calendar No. 377
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 1209
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JUNE 7, 2001
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
MAY 16 (legislative day, MAY 9), 2002
Reported by Mr. LEAHY, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
AN ACT
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to determine
whether an alien is a child, for purposes of classification
as an immediate relative, based on the age of the alien
on the date the classification petition with respect to
the alien is filed, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Status Protec-
tion Act of 2001’’.
HR 1209 RS
SEC. 2. USE OF AGE ON PETITION FILING DATE, PARENT’S
NATURALIZATION DATE, OR MARRIAGE TER-
MINATION DATE, IN DETERMINING STATUS
AS IMMEDIATE RELATIVE.
Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1151) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(f) RULES FOR DETERMINING WHETHER CERTAIN
ALIENS ARE IMMEDIATE RELATIVES.—
‘‘(1) AGE ON PETITION FILING DATE.—Except as
provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), for purposes of
subsection (b)(2)(A)(i), a determination of whether an
alien satisfies the age requirement in the matter pre-
ceding subparagraph (A) of section 101(b)(1) shall be
made using the age of the alien on the date on which
the petition is filed with the Attorney General under
section 204 to classify the alien as an immediate rel-
ative under subsection (b)(2)(A)(i).
‘‘(2) 
AGE
ON
PARENT’S
NATURALIZATION
DATE.—In the case of a petition under section 204
initially filed for an alien child’s classification as a
family-sponsored 
immigrant 
under 
section
203(a)(2)(A), based on the child’s parent being law-
fully admitted for permanent residence, if the petition
is later converted, due to the naturalization of the
parent, to a petition to classify the alien as an imme-
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diate relative under subsection (b)(2)(A)(i), the deter-
mination described in paragraph (1) shall be made
using the age of the alien on the date of the parent’s
naturalization.
‘‘(3) AGE ON MARRIAGE TERMINATION DATE.—In
the case of a petition under section 204 initially filed
for an alien’s classification as a family-sponsored im-
migrant under section 203(a)(3), based on the alien’s
being a married son or daughter of a citizen, if the
petition is later converted, due to the legal termi-
nation of the alien’s marriage, to a petition to clas-
sify the alien as an immediate relative under sub-
section (b)(2)(A)(i) or as an unmarried son or daugh-
ter of a citizen under section 203(a)(1), the deter-
mination described in paragraph (1) shall be made
using the age of the alien on the date of the termi-
nation of the marriage.’’.
SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN UNMARRIED SONS AND
DAUGHTERS SEEKING STATUS AS FAMILY-
SPONSORED, EMPLOYMENT-BASED, AND DI-
VERSITY IMMIGRANTS.
Section 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1153) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
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‘‘(h) RULES FOR DETERMINING WHETHER CERTAIN
ALIENS ARE CHILDREN.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsections
(a)(2)(A) and (d), a determination of whether an
alien satisfies the age requirement in the matter pre-
ceding subparagraph (A) of section 101(b)(1) shall be
made using—
‘‘(A) the age of the alien on the date on
which an immigrant visa number becomes avail-
able for such alien (or, in the case of subsection
(d), the date on which an immigrant visa num-
ber became available for the alien’s parent), but
only if the alien has sought to acquire the status
of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent res-
idence within one year of such availability; re-
duced by
‘‘(B) the number of days in the period dur-
ing which the applicable petition described in
paragraph (2) was pending.
‘‘(2) PETITIONS DESCRIBED.—The petition de-
scribed in this paragraph is—
‘‘(A) with respect to a relationship described
in subsection (a)(2)(A), a petition filed under
section 204 for classification of an alien child
under subsection (a)(2)(A); or
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‘‘(B) with respect to an alien child who is
a derivative beneficiary under subsection (d), a
petition filed under section 204 for classification
of the alien’s parent under subsection (a), (b), or
(c).
‘‘(3) RETENTION OF PRIORITY DATE.—If the age
of an alien is determined under paragraph (1) to be
21 years of age or older for the purposes of subsections
(a)(4) and (d), the alien’s petition shall automatically
be converted to the appropriate category and the alien
shall retain the original priority date issued upon re-
ceipt of the original petition.’’.
SEC. 4. USE OF AGE ON PARENT’S APPLICATION FILING
DATE IN DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY FOR ASY-
LUM.
Section 208(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(3)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF SPOUSE AND CHILDREN.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A spouse or child (as
defined in section 101(b)(1) (A), (B), (C), (D), or
(E)) of an alien who is granted asylum under
this subsection may, if not otherwise eligible for
asylum under this section, be granted the same
status as the alien if accompanying, or following
to join, such alien.
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‘‘(B) CONTINUED CLASSIFICATION OF CER-
TAIN
ALIENS
AS
CHILDREN.—An unmarried
alien who seeks to accompany, or follow to join,
a parent granted asylum under this subsection,
and who was under 21 years of age on the date
on which such parent applied for asylum under
this section, shall continue to be classified as a
child for purposes of this paragraph and section
209(b)(2), if the alien attained 21 years of age
after such application was filed but while it was
pending.’’.
SEC. 5. USE OF AGE ON PARENT’S APPLICATION FILING
DATE IN DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY FOR AD-
MISSION AS REFUGEE.
Section 207(c)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1157(c)(2)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)(A)’’;
and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(B) An unmarried alien who seeks to accompany, or
follow to join, a parent granted admission as a refugee
under this subsection, and who was under 21 years of age
on the date on which such parent applied for refugee status
under this section, shall continue to be classified as a child
for purposes of this paragraph, if the alien attained 21
HR 1209 RS
years of age after such application was filed but while it
was pending.’’.
SEC. 6. TREATMENT OF CLASSIFICATION PETITIONS FOR
UNMARRIED SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF NAT-
URALIZED CITIZENS.
Section 204 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1154) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(k) PROCEDURES
FOR
UNMARRIED
SONS
AND
DAUGHTERS OF CITIZENS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), in the case of a petition under this section
initially filed for an alien unmarried son or daugh-
ter’s classification as a family-sponsored immigrant
under section 203(a)(2)(B), based on a parent of the
son or daughter being an alien lawfully admitted for
permanent residence, if such parent subsequently be-
comes a naturalized citizen of the United States, such
petition shall be converted to a petition to classify the
unmarried son or daughter as a family-sponsored im-
migrant under section 203(a)(1).
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not apply
if the son or daughter files with the Attorney General
a written statement that he or she elects not to have
such conversion occur (or if it has occurred, to have