纽约Jensen律师楼成立于1996年, 专精美国（技术，杰出人才和投资）移民。欢迎关注公众号：jensen-law-firm。联系方式：13911803847陆敏女士。
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昨天我详细讨论过EB-5投资移民排期在时间上将会如何影响中国大陆出生的投资人。而结论是，时间上，如果I-526申请 (即投资移民申请) 依然需要平均14个月的审批时间，而两年的排期没有再延长，那么中国大陆出生的投资者将比原来没有排期的时候多等10个月。
所以，其实除了要多等一段时间以外，排期并不会给大多数投资者带来很大的负面影响。
（回复“排期”阅读本文作者关于EB-5排期的详细介绍并了解本文未说明的专业术语的确切含义。）
然而，如果你有一个18岁或已经超过18岁的小孩的话，情况就会变得不一样了。
很多人已经知道，现在在你的I-526申请等待审批时，根据儿童身份保护法案（CSPA），你孩子的年龄将被冻结。这也是为什么如果家长在孩子年满21周岁前递交I-526申请，即使I-526批准时孩子的年龄已经超过21岁，孩子仍然可以随父母一起申请绿卡。
然而，因为排期问题，如今有较大年龄孩子的投资人将会面临风险。虽然有很多人与家人一起移民美国是为了开始新的生活，但是大多数人做投资移民的目的都是为了孩子取得美国绿卡甚至最终拿到美国公民身份。我自己是在成年以后才来美国的，并且本来是希望在我完成法学博士学位后回到韩国生活。然而我最终选择留在美国是为了我的三个孩子。所以，我从自己的经验知道，很多时候，移民其实是为了孩子。
儿童身份保护法案
在2002年儿童身份保护法案制定前，如果一个小孩在其父母获得绿卡之前满21岁，那么他们将无法随父母一同移民美国。这就是所谓的“超龄”。并且在那时，移民申请（第一步）和签证申请（第二步）的处理时间都比现在还要长。虽然13年前的EB-5申请比现在快很多，但这个”超龄“的规定适用于所有类型的移民，包括亲属移民。
所以美国国会后来制定了儿童身份保护法案，去保护那些因为移民申请处理时间过长而超龄的孩子。然而，因为某些原因（我个人的想法是某些政治因素），儿童身份保护法案并不保护那些因为受排期而受到影响的孩子。换句话说，如果是因为移民局审核移民申请（第一步）的时间过长而导致孩子超龄，那么儿童身份法案将保护这类孩子的儿童身份。然而如果是因为移民申请被核准，然而申请人受签证积压导致的排期所影响，无法马上申请移民签证，那么这个时候，儿童身份保护法案将不能阻止这些申请人的孩子超龄，从而这些孩子将无法随他们的父母一同申请移民签证（第二步）。
排期如何影响儿童的案例分析
那么，这个法案到底具体是如何运用到现实中的呢？我们来看一下不同情况下的案例分析：
首先，在以下案例中，申请人的情况如下：
投资人于2015年7月递交I-526申请。投资人的I-526申请于2016年9月获批。由于排期，投资人等待了10个月后，最后于2017年6月1日到领事馆面谈申请绿卡。
假设排期仍然是24个月，2016年9月时（即I-526批准时）的截止日为2014年9月。
那么投资人必须等到签证公告栏上的截止日变为2015年7月（他的优先日）时才可以进行第二步（即申请移民签证）。他大概需要多等10个月，即到2017年7月。
案例1：
那么我们现在假设，投资人有一个孩子，而在他在2015年7月递交I-526移民申请的时候，他的孩子已经20岁零3个月了。
当投资人提交I-526申请时，孩子年龄冻结。但是一旦他的I-526申请被批准而没有签证可供他申请时，孩子年龄又开始增长了。
因此到2017年7月申请人终于可以进行第二步时，孩子的年龄是20岁零3个月+10个月（因为从I-526批准到签证排期排到时经过了10个月）。因此孩子现在是21岁零1个月，从而因为超龄而不可以随父母一起移民。
案例2：
现在让我们假设在I-526申请时孩子的年龄是19岁零6个月而不是20岁零3个月。
那么现在孩子在申请绿卡时的年龄是19岁零6个月+10个月，也就是20岁零4个月（还未满21周岁！），也就是说孩子满足随父母一起通过EB-5移民的条件。
这就是为什么面对现在的排期，父母作为主申请人而孩子已经19岁或20岁的情况很危险。
在写这篇文章时（2015年4月16日），I-526审批时间是14个月而签证排期时间是24个月，导致中间等待的时间为10个月（即孩子年龄增长的时间），只要孩子年龄在申请时是19岁，应该能满足条件。而如果孩子只有18岁，则看起来相当安全。所以如果你已经递交申请，孩子在申请时约18岁左右，那么你应该是不需要担心的。
但是，请注意这些假设是有可能会变化的（也就是说，I-526的审核时间可以变短或者变长，而排期时间可以变长或者变短），所以我们上述的分析也会随着I-526的审核时间或排期时间的变化而发生变化。下面，让我们再看以下另一个案例。
案例3：
让我们假设孩子年龄在I-526申请时依然是19岁零6个月，但是I-526审批时间仅用了6个月（而不是目前的平均14个月）。
那么I-526批准之时将变为2016年1月而不是案例2里的2016年9月。所以现在的I-526批准（2016年2月）到签证排期排到（2017年7月）之间的等待时间变成了18个月而不是10个月。而到签证排期排到时，孩子的年龄则已经变成了19岁零6个月+18个月=21岁，因此孩子超龄了！
所以，在此案例3中，即使孩子在父母递交申请时还是19岁6个月，却由于I-526审批时间变快，反而在可以申请签证时超龄，非常具有讽刺意味。
这就是为什么美国移民局有时候会使用一个超常规的程序称为“押后批准”(abeyance)，在其他已经开始排期的绿卡种类中, 他们会在看起来孩子将要超龄，而更长的移民申请审批时间将有助于孩子随父母一起移民的情况下，晚一些批准相关移民申请。但是根据最近EB-5利益相关者会议上对一个问题的回答看起来，EB-5审批团队暂时还没考虑使用押后批准。
案例4：
现在，我们再假设，I-526审批时间又变回14个月，但是现在排期变成了3年而不是如今的2年。
如今你再一次看到，即使孩子在父母递交I-526申请时还是19岁6个月，然而由于排期时间变长，孩子在签证排期排到时，年龄已经是19岁零6个月+22个月=21岁4个月，孩子又一次超龄了。
结语
因此，正如你所看到的，当I-526审批时间或签证排期时间发生改变时，孩子是否超龄可能截然不同。但是事实是，我们不知道这些时间未来会如何改变。例如，I-526的审批速度会变短么？移民局现在只有54个审判官处理I-526申请。他们会像之前许诺那样招募更多人手么？如果是的话，什么时候会发生？另外，现在为期24个月的签证排期时间“预计”会在2016年底变为36个月；并且，如果移民局真的开始加快I-526审批，将有更多的人进入第二步的队伍的话，可能不到2016年底排期时间就会延长。因此，尽管我们可以大概估计，但我们不能精准预测。
所以，就目前来看，如果你已经递交了I-526申请，在当前14个月的I-526审批等待时间和24个月的排期时间的情况下，如果递交申请时孩子年龄低于20周岁，应该是比较安全的。
然而，如果你将要递交I-526申请，你不应该依据这篇文章的预测（写于2015年4月）做决定。你应该咨询一个既理解目前的时间预估，也清楚未来可能变化的律师。
你应该考虑的另外一个选择（很多投资者也已经这么做了）就是，如果孩子已经超过18岁（有了订立合同的行为能力），并且父母是为了孩子才选择EB-5的，可以让孩子作为主申请人。当父母双方收入都很高的情况下，也有人出于税收规划做这样的选择。并且，如果父母之后决定和孩子一起住在美国（帮孩子带小孩等等），在孩子拿到有条件绿卡的五年之后，可以申请入籍，并且为父母申请绿卡。因为美国公民为父母申请绿卡是不受配额限制的，父母到时可以轻易取得绿卡。但是，我也明白对于有超过一个孩子并且希望所有孩子都能够受益于EB-5投资的家庭来讲，做两个申请可能是一个巨大的经济负担。
（另外我经常被问到一个不同但是相关的问题，18岁以下的小孩可以作为主申请人申请EB-5移民么？我计划之后单独写一篇文章讨论这个问题，所以请订阅我们的公众微信号以持续关注。）
我理解以上问题很复杂，希望这篇文章能帮助大家拨开一些谜团。我打算在下周下一篇文章中讨论奥巴马总统的行政举措中哪些可能可以帮助大家避免这一切！
翻译：曹碧玉、黎小悦
以下是Julia Park律师英文文章原文，供参考：
How the Visa Backlog Affects Children
Yesterday, I discussed in detail how the EB-5 visa backlog for investors from mainland China would affect the timing of immigration for investors. The conclusion was that for the time being, as long as I-526 processing times stand at 14 months and the 2 year backlog doesn’t get longer, the investor can anticipate an additional 10 month waiting period.
So other than waiting a while longer for what is already a long process to begin with, the visa backlog doesn’t have a huge implication to most investors.
However, the situation is very different if you have a child that is near or over 18 years of age.
Most people know by now that once you have an immigration petition (I-526) pending your child’s age is frozen under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). That is why if the parent files an I-526 petition before the child turns 21, the child would still qualify for the greencard along with their parents even if the child is older than 21 when the I-526 is approved.
However, this might no longer be the case for families with older children. While many people immigrate to the United States with their families to start a new life, in many cases the whole point of EB-5 is for the investor’s children to obtain greencards and ultimately citizenship in the United States. I myself came to the United States as an adult with the full intention of going back to Korea after my law school studies. But ultimately we ended up staying in the United States for our three children. So I know from personal experience that immigration is often all about the kids.
The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)
Prior to the enactment of the CSPA in 2002, if the child turned 21 at anytime before the parent received the actual greencard, they would no longer qualify to immigrate alongside the parents. This is called “aging-out”. Even back then, the processing times for immigration petitions (Step 1) and visa applications (Step 2) took a long time. While the wait times for EB-5 petitions were not long at all 13 years ago, the rules apply to all types of immigration including family based immigration. (Please read yesterday’s post for an explanation of Steps 1 and 2.)
So Congress stepped in and enacted the CSPA which protects a child from aging out due to long immigration processing times. However, for whatever reason (and my guess is that it was some sort of political compromise), the CSPA does NOT protect the child from delays resulting from visa backlogs. In other words, if it took a long time because the USCIS took too long to process the immigration petition in Step 1, the child is protected, but the child is not protected from aging out if you can’t move to Step 2 because the visa numbers are backlogged.
Examples of How the Backlog Affects Children
Then how does it actually work? Let’s use specific examples.
First, here is the basic set up:
Investor files I-526 in July 2015. Investor’s I-526 is approved 14 months later in September 2016. Waits 10 months and starts Consular Processing June 1, 2017.
When the I-526 is approved in September 2016, if the backlog is still 24 months, the cut-off date will be September 2014.
So the investor must now wait until the cut-off date on the Visa Bulletin reaches July 2015 (his Priority Date) before he can move to Step 2. And we know that if processing took 14 months, the investor can expect to wait 10 months until July 2017. (Again, please refer to yesterday’s post about what the Visa Bulletin/cut-off date is and where you can find it online.)
Example 1:
Now let’s say the investor had a child who is 20 years and 3 months old on July 2015 when the I-526 is filed.
Once the investor filed, the child’s age froze. But once he is approved when there are no visa numbers available, and the child starts aging again.
So in July 2017 when the investor can finally move to Step 2, the child is now 20 years and 3 month old + 10 months (since 10 months passed between the I-526 approval and the visa numbers becoming current). So the child is now 21 years and 1 month old and has aged out.
Example 2:
Now let’s assume instead of 20 years and 3 month at the time of I-526 filing, the child was 19 years and 6 months old.
So this time 19 years and 6 months + 10 months takes the child to 20 years and 4 months (under 21!) and the child will qualify for the EB-5 alongside the parents.
That is why now that visa backlog has become a reality, it is risky for the parent to become the main investor when the children are already 19 or 20 years old.
Currently as of the date of this article (April 16, 2015), with 14-month I-526 approval times and a 24 month backlog, as long as the child is 19 when the I-526 is filed, the child should qualify since the wait time is approximately 10 additional months. And if the child is 18, it looks pretty safe. So if you have already applied with an 18 year old child, no need to panic.
However, please be aware that the underlying assumptions can change (in other words, the I-526 approval time could get shorter or longer and the backlog of 24 months can get longer or shorter) which can skew the analysis. Let’s look at another example below.
Example 3:
Let’s say that the child is again19 years and 6 months old at the time of filing but the I-526 approval takes only 6 months (instead of 14 months).
So the I-526 is now approved in January 2016 instead of September 2016. This means the wait time between I-526 approval (Feb 2016) and visa number becoming current (July 2017) is 18 months instead of 10 months. So now the child is 19 years and 6 months + 18 months = 21 years and has aged out.
So in this example, even though the child was 19 years and 6 months old at filing like Example 1, ironically because the I-526s were approved more quickly, the child has aged out.
This is why the USCIS sometimes uses an extraordinary procedure called abeyance in other visa categories that are backlogged where they will take their time in approving the underlying immigration petition when it looks like the child will age out. But according to a question asked during a recent Stakeholder’s Call, the EB-5 team does not yet seem to be considering implementing abeyance.
Example 4:
This time let’s move the I-526 wait times back to 14 months but make the backlog 3 years instead of the current 2 years.
Here you can see that even though, again, the child was 19 years and 6 months at time of filing, because of the increased backlog, the child has aged out.
CONCLUSION
So as you can see, the outcome can differ widely when the underlying assumptions change. But the truth is that we don’t know how these assumptions will change in the future. For example, will the I-526 processing times become shorter? The USCIS currently only has 54 adjudicators processing I-526s. Will they finally hire more people as they have been promising for a while now? If so, when? Also, the current 24 month visa backlog is “expected” to increase to 36 months by the end of 2016; but it might happen sooner if the USCIS finally starts processing I-526s more quickly and more people move into Step 2 of the process. So while we can estimate, we can’t predict with accuracy.
So for now if you have already filed, with 14 month I-526 wait times and a 24 month backlog, if your child was under 20 when you filed, you are probably OK as long as the current assumption don’t change.
But if you are filing in the future, you will not want to rely on this post (written in April 2015) to make any decisions. You should definitely consult an attorney who understands what the current assumptions as well as projected changes would be.
Another option you should consider (and many investors are already doing this) is if the child is over 18 (legal age of contract) and the parents are pursuing EB-5 solely for the child, have the child become the main investor. Some people also choose this option as a form of tax planning when both parents have income. And, if the parents later decide that they want to live in the United States (to help take care of the grandkids!), 5 years after the child becomes a conditional greencard holder she can become a U.S. citizen and sponsor her parents. And as there is no visa quota for parents of U.S. citizens, the parents can easily get a greencard later. But I understand that this is not an easy decision for families that have more than one child as they will want both children to benefit from the EB-5 investment and making two separate petitions can be a big financial burden.
(A different but related question I often get is, can a child who is under 18 apply for EB-5 as the main investor? I plan to discuss this in a separate post later so please subscribe to our WeChat public account!)
I know this is a very confusing topic and I hope this post has demystified the process a bit. In my next post next week, I plan to discuss what ever happened to Obama’s Executive Action that was supposed to help us avoid all this!
