Deadline for Eligible Widow(er)s for Filing Form I-360 is October 28, 2011

USCIS reminds eligible widow(er)s that October 28, 2011 is the deadline for filing a Form I-360 visa petition.  If you are the widow(er) of a U.S. citizen who died before October 28, 2009 you may be eligible to immigrate to the United States if: 

• You and your deceased spouse were married for less than 2 years when your spouse died and  
• You file Form I-360 for Special immigrant classification as a widow/widower by October 28, 2011. See section 568(c) of Public Law 111-83 for more information.

USCIS must receive your Form I-360 by October 28, 2011.  Since you must file Form I-360 by mail or overnight courier, please be sure to ship it in time for USCIS to receive it no later than October 28, 2011.

By way of background, on October 28, 2009, the President signed the FY2010 DHS Appropriations Act into law, allowing eligible widows or widowers of U.S. citizens to qualify for permanent resident status regardless of how long the couple was married. The law amended the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by removing the two-year marriage requirement previously necessary for a widow(er) to qualify for permanent resident status as an immediate relative of his or her late U.S. citizen spouse.

Additionally, when a widow(er) qualifies as an immediate relative under the law, his or her unmarried minor children will also qualify for the same status. The law applies equally to widow(er)s living abroad, who are seeking immigrant visas and widow(er)s in the United States, who want to become permanent residents based on their marriage. These provisions of the FY2010 DHS Appropriations Act relate only to the impact of the citizen’s death on a widow(er)’s eligibility for classification as an immediate relative. All other requirements for approval of a visa petition remain in force. Specifically, the widow(er) must still establish that:

• He or she was the citizen’s legal spouse.
• The marriage was bona fide and not an arrangement solely to confer immigration benefits to the beneficiary.
• He or she has not remarried.
• He or she is admissible as an immigrant.
• In an adjustment of status case, that he or she meets all other adjustment eligibility requirements and merits a favorable exercise of discretion.

Courtesy USCIS.gov