If you were a child when your parents applied for immigration, and turn 21 while the application is still pending, a new Supreme Court ruling determined that you may need to get to the back of the line and start the process all over again as a result. According to the Associated Press, the justices at the Supreme Court believe that immigration laws do now let children who age out the system qualify for visas based on their parents immigration status. This decision was in line with the opinion held by the Obama Administration.

This issue came up in the Supreme Court when a Salvadoran immigrant with the initials R.O. applied for a visa with her 13-year-old son. She waited for years to receive approval on her application. Her son turned 21 during that waiting period, and government officials told her that he no longer qualified as an eligible child when she was finally approved for her visa. Her child was put back at the end of the line, and had to wait for several more years before gaining an entrance visa to the U.S. The mother took this case to court, and the ruling has finally been declared law on June 9^th, 2014.

At its core, the Supreme Court says that this is an argument about the Child Status Protection Act and how the language protects children that age out of the system while their parents are still waiting. According to one of the justices of the Supreme Court, a clause of the 8 U.S.C. §1153(h)(3) provides a clear answer. She argued that all children that are over 21 when their parents are given a visa should have derivative beneficiary status. The rest of the court did not agree with this statement, and ruled that the Child Status Protection Act only provides to a small subset of the aged out children. If you want more information about this ruling, or how this may affect your immigration case, call a local immigration attorney today.