By – Glen Palaca Hubahib, Esq.

  2025 Philippine’s Midterm Elections

After the smoke had cleared from the 2025 Philippine’s midterm elections, we may now see a power shift in preparation for the 2028 Presidential elections. No Partido Federal senate candidates of President Marcos made it to the top 12. Some allies won. But we know that it was a one-night stand. Bohol delivered strongly for PDP and presidential sister did not make it to the top 12. The body language of the not so hesitant aspirant for Senate president, Sen. Sotto, hinted that the impeachment is already dead and more questions about the 2025 budget.

  Credit to: GMA Network

Additionally, the latest Pulse Asia survey showed Pres. Marcos a low 32% net rating. It will be hard for him to govern moving forward especially that VP Sarah has 50% and Digong has 63%. The latter is surprisingly high since he is not a public official. BBM is now considered as a lame duck President. It is harder for him to get his bills passed and his erstwhile allies will become distant.

Immigration: Child Status Protection Act:\

Another common hiccup for getting a greencard is when the child turns 21 years old because the child may not be eligible. Hence, the USCIS issued policy guidance when an immigrant visa becomes available for the purpose of calculating Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) age for aliens seeking lawful permanent resident status.

Picture Credit: PBS.org

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) defines a child as a person who is both unmarried and under 21 years old. Generally, If a child applies for lawful permanent resident (LPR) status but turns 21 before being approved for LPR status, that person can no longer be considered a child for immigration purposes. This is commonly referred to as “aging out” and often means that these applicants would have to file a new petition or application, wait even longer to get a Green Card, or may no longer be eligible for a Green Card.

          Recognizing that many children were aging out due to large USCIS processing backlogs, hence it enacted the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) to protect certain children from aging out and went into effect on August 6, 2002. The law does not change the definition of a child. Instead, it provides a method for calculating a person’s age to see if they meet the definition of a child for immigration purposes. The calculated age is the child’s “CSPA age.” This allows the child to remain classified as children beyond their 21st birthday. However, CSPA does not change the requirement that you must be unmarried in order to remain eligible for classification as a child.

If the applicant is a child of a U.S. citizen, the child’s age is frozen on the date the petition is filed. If you were under the age of 21 at the time the petition was filed, you are eligible for CSPA and will not age out. However, you must remain unmarried in order to qualify.

          It gets complicated if the parent is a greencard holder. Because CSPA age of the child is determined by subtracting the age of the child when the visa is available by the time when the petition is pending. For example: You are 21 years and 4 months old when USCIS considers an immigrant visa available to you. Your petition has been pending for 6 months. Calculate your CSPA age as follows:  21 years and 4 months – 6 months = 20 years and 10 months (CSPA age)

Because the latter is more complicated and may confuse the parties, it is recommended to consult a legal immigration professional.

[Note: Glen Palaca Hubahib is admitted to practice law in California and the Philippines. He also holds an Electrical Engineering and MBA degrees. He is a resource speaker every 1st Wednesday of the month of the highly rated “Open Forum” radio program of Ms. Ardy Araneta-Batoy and Gloria Leodivica Araneta at station DYTR. The article is for information only and is not a legal advice. Send your comments to the author at hubahibg@gmail.com.]