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    IMMIGRATION                                                            MARCH 20, 2026      |  The Indian Eye 39

            underlying I-140 petition. The US-  employment based third preference  stemming from this interpretation  under the APA, such as the issue of
            CIS has historically recognized that  (EB-3) with a  priority date of July  could result in derivative children  visa availability under the CSPA, at
            the child’s age freezes when there is  1, 2013 might only freeze the age of  being placed into removal proceed-  least  in  the  Fourth  Circuit.  More-
            a concurrently filed visa petition and  the child on October 1, 2025 even if  ings. It bears consideration, howev-  over, the Supreme Court in Loper
            adjustment of status application.   the  I-140  petition  got approved  on  er, that USCIS’ interpretation can  Bright  Enters.  v.  Raimondo,  has
                The visa is available at the time  January 10, 2022. If the child was 20  potentially be challenged under the  made clear that courts must interpret
            of  the  concurrent  filing  and  so  it  years and six months on October 20,  Administrative Procedure Act, argu-  statutes independently and need not
            made sense to freeze the age of the  2020, the child’s age ought to have  ing that the policy change was arbi-  defer to an agency’s interpretation,
            child consistent with INA 203(h)(1)  frozen on that date before it reached  trary and capricious because USCIS  providing further basis for contesting
            (A).                              21 years rather than on October 2025  provide no notice or explanation for  USCIS’ new policy.
                We saw the CSPA being applied  when the child would be well past 21  its reinterpretation of the statute.
            to concurrent filings during the July  years of age.                    Pursuant to Reyes v. USCIS, a   *Kaitlyn Box is a Partner at Cyrus D.
            2007 visa bulletin period even though    In the current climate, erro-  federal court has jurisdiction to hear   Mehta & Partners PLLC.
            there was retrogression from August  neous denials of I-485 applications  a statutory interpretation challenge
            2007 onwards. Another  good exam-  ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
            ple was the April 2012 Visa Bulletin,
            when the EB-2 cut-off dates for In-  Cyrus D. Mehta, a graduate of Cambridge University and Columbia Law School, is the Managing Partner of Cyrus D. Mehta
            dia and China were May 1, 2010.   & Partners PLLC in New York City. Mr. Mehta is a member of AILA’s Administrative Litigation Task Force; AILA’s EB-5 Com-
                In the very next May 2012 Visa
            Bulletin  a month later, the EB-2 cut-  mittee; former chair of AILA’s Ethics Committee; special counsel on immigration matters to the Departmental Disciplinary
            off dates for India and China retro-  Committee, Appellate Division, First Department, New York; member of the ABA Commission on Immigration; board member
            gressed to August 15, 2007. Still, the   of Volunteers for Legal Services and board member of New York Immigration Coalition.  Mr. Mehta is the former chair of the
            USCIS considered the child’s age   Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Council and former chair of the Committee on Immigration and Nationality
            frozen even though there was retro-
            gression after April 2012.        Law of the New York City Bar Association. He is a frequent speaker and writer on various immigration-related issues, including
                USCIS’   new    interpretation  on ethics, and is also an adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches a course entitled Immigration and
            will have devastating impacts for   Work.  Mr. Mehta received the AILA 2018 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for advancing the practice of immigration law
            children whose ages are no longer
            protected under the CSPA, and for  and the AILA 2011 Michael Maggio Memorial Award for his outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the
            their families. Under the new inter-  immigration field. He has also received two AILA Presidential Commendations in 2010 and 2016.  Mr. Mehta is ranked among
            pretation, a concurrently filed I-140   the most highly regarded lawyers in North America by Who’s Who Legal – Corporate Immigration Law 2019 and is also ranked
            petition  and  I-485  application  on
            October 20,  2020 under the India  in Chambers USA and Chambers Global 2019 in immigration law, among other rankings.

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