One of the many privileges of being a United States citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the United States is that you may petition for family members to immigrate into the U.S. Anyone that has petitioned family members will tell you that the process is long and expensive. There are many situations that can arise during the petition that can make the application process tenuous. A more common inquiry that I receive from petitioners is: “What happens to my petition application when the petitioner dies?”
Now, the statute that addresses this issue (more specifically 8 CFR § 205.1(a)(3)(i)) states that an approved petition is automatically revoked upon the death of either the petitioner or the beneficiary. The good news is that the beneficiary is not without recourse and may request for USCIS to reinstate the revoked petition pursuant to 8 CFR § 205.1(a)(3)(i)(C)(2). Reinstatement lies in the discretion of the Attorney General and is based on humanitarian reasoning. Once the reinstatement is approved, the beneficiary must find a substitute sponsor.
The substitute sponsor must be a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident who is at least 18 years of age. And, of course, the substitute sponsor must be somewhat closely related to the beneficiary.
