When you are applying for an immigrant visa or "green card" through a U.S. relative, but the sponsoring U.S. relative dies before you are able to gain final approval, you might not be able to proceed with your case. This is because the petition filed by a U.S. relative as a necessary part of the visa/green card application is revoked under certain circumstances when that person dies. (See Can Immigrant Still Get Green Card After U.S. Petitioner/Sponsor's Death?)
If this has happened to you, and you are the principal beneficiary rather than a derivative family member (someone who was listed on the petition as planning to accompany the main beneficiary), you have another option. You can ask U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to proceed with your case based on humanitarian reasons. (See 8 C.F.R. § 205.1(a)(3)(i)(C)(2).) This article will explain how.
You can request humanitarian reinstatement of a petition filed with USCIS only if the agency had already approved it by the time your U.S. relative died. You should send a written request for reinstatement to the USCIS service center that approved the petition. Or, if you've already properly filed an application for adjustment of status (a green card) with USCIS, you should send your request to the USCIS office with jurisdiction over the adjustment application.
In either case, you must include in your submission:
It would also be wise to include a cover letter, summarizing your request and clearly giving identifying information: the deceased sponsor's name and Alien Registration Number, if any, your name, and any other details you feel need explaining to the U.S. government.
USCIS's decision on your request for humanitarian reinstatement is "discretionary," which means it can rule how it wants to, with very few limits on its authority. Reinstatement might be appropriate in "the furtherance of justice," bearing in mind that one of the goals of the U.S. immigration system is keeping families together. Some of the factors that USCIS has traditionally considered in acting on reinstatement requests include:
Although family ties in the United States are important, you don't need to show "extreme hardship" to you or your relatives already living lawfully in the United States in order for the petition to be reinstated.
Unfortunately, there are no official processing times for humanitarian reinstatement requests. You might get a response in a few weeks or months. It also could take a few years.
If USCIS decides to grant you humanitarian reinstatement, it will tell you. It will also send its the decision to either the Department of State (if you're outside the U.S.) or to the USCIS officer handling your adjustment application (if you're inside the United States).
Your case will then proceed as a normal family-based case would, with the substitute sponsor for the I-864 affidavit of support. All other requirements for getting the immigrant visa or green card remain the same.
If USCIS decides not to grant you humanitarian reinstatement, it will tell you in writing. You can't appeal USCIS's decision. Unfortunately, this means you will have to find some other way of getting an immigrant visa or green card.
Immigration law is complex to begin with, and the situation described in this article is an unusual one. It would be wise to enlist the help of an experienced immigration attorney.
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