You could lose your immigrant visa if you do not pursue your case (Part II)

In a previous article, I discussed various ways by which a person could have his or her case terminated by failing to pursue their visa. Here are more ways you could have your case cancelled/terminated:

4. The Petitioner and Beneficiary are required to provide the Embassy (or the National Visa Center) with their current address, even if they move. Failure of a visa applicant to receive the Embassy’s Notice of Termination, due to a change of address (of which the Embassy was not informed), will not be considered as a “reason beyond the applicant’s control” for not pursuing the visa application. In other words, if you change your address, and do not notify the Embassy of the new address, the Embassy will continue mailing papers to your old address. If you do not receive the Embassy’s notices (because you had moved and did not notify the Embassy), then it is your fault, and the NVC or Embassy will not consider that “beyond your control”, as it clearly was within your control to keep the NVC or Embassy advised of your current address. Also, a change of address form given to the post office is not enough. You need to notify the NVC or Embassy.

Therefore, if a person’s priority date on their petition has been current for a long time, but they (or their relatives in America) have not received anything from the Embassy and/or National Visa Center, they should consider taking steps to make sure that their visa application or petition is still “alive”. In such a case, people may wish to seek the advice or assistance of a reputable attorney, who can analyze the situation, find out the current status of the case, and, hopefully, salvage the situation before it’s too late. The Embassy will not hold your visa application indefinitely once your priority date becomes current. Either you are interested in the visa, or you are not. Remember, there are plenty of “stand by” passengers in line for visas, who are definitely interested in pursuing their own visa applications.

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