The official FAQ identifies unmarried children under 21; financial dependence or student status does not by itself place an older child in that published group. Have any separate route assessed individually.
Separate academic dependence from the immigration definition
Do not promise a Gold Card family outcome from a tuition bill. For an intended eligible joining child, the FAQ recommends initial inclusion and specifies US$15,000 plus a US$1 million gift, subject to individual eligibility. Where age is close to the limit or has changed during processing, assess any applicable Child Status Protection Act protection before concluding that the child has aged out.
Work out where the boundary sits before building a plan that depends on which side of it a child falls. Tuition paid, financial dependence and full-time student status describe a household arrangement rather than that published category, and none of them moves the line. If an older child has to be part of the family’s plan, have any separate route assessed on its own facts and its own timetable, since it may not advance in step with the principal’s application.
Confirm the published figures as current before they are used in a budget, and keep the school’s deadlines out of the immigration analysis entirely. Neither published amount is reduced by what the household already pays in tuition, and neither is affected by the school’s own view of who counts as a dependent.