Do not assume either automatic loss or automatic protection. Applicable Child Status Protection Act rules and the actual case events require individual assessment.
Review the relevant age rules before changing the plan
The child’s unmarried status and other requirements still matter. This page does not freeze an age, calculate a protected age or promise a result from the birthday alone; obtain the analysis for the actual petition and process.
A spouse of any citizenship and unmarried children under 21 may be included on the strength of marriage and birth records, and each undergoes the ordinary immigrant admissibility review. At the residence stage, each family member pays either the consular immigrant visa fee and the immigrant fee, or the adjustment-of-status fee if applying inside the United States, so a family of four pays four sets. Adding a spouse and unmarried children under 21 as derivatives creates neither another ten-job obligation nor a second capital threshold, although age and relationship evidence need individual review. If the investor's country of chargeability is backlogged in the Visa Bulletin, the wait for visa availability is not subtracted, and a child who was 18 at filing can still turn 21 before a visa number exists.