- 1). Determine where the immigrant's application or petition is held. The affidavit can only be cancelled if the retraction is made in writing before the immigrant's status has been changed from nonimmigrant to immigrant. In the case of someone who is petitioning to adjust status while inside the United States, that form is processed by a field agent of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services before being routed for final adjustment of status. For an immigrant who has not yet entered the United States, the affidavit may be at the National Visa Center or in the hands of the State Department consular officer in the immigrant's home country. Start by contacting the person who originally requested the affidavit to determine the status of the application.
- 2
A withdrawal of the affidavit must be in writing and mailed to the office adjudicating the petition.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
Mail a written retraction of the affidavit to the officer currently processing the immigrant's adjustment of status or visa request. As long as the retraction of the affidavit of support is received before the final adjustment of status (in the case of a petition for an immigrant already in the United States) or before granting a visa (in the case of an immigrant outside the United States) the USCIS Adjudicator's Field Manual instructs that the affidavit is to be cancelled. At that point, the immigrant's petition will likely be cancelled also, unless somebody submits a substitute petition and affidavit on behalf of the immigrant. - 3). Encourage the affidavit recipient to remove himself from the terms of the affidavit. If you did not intercept the affidavit before the final visa or adjustment of status, the general rule is that you are bound by the terms of the agreement that you made with the government. However, there have traditionally been four ways for an affidavit to lapse naturally: death, removal, citizenship and work. Leaving aside the death of the immigrant, the affidavit will naturally lapse if the immigrant leaves the United States for more than one year, acquires citizenship or accumulates 40 quarters of qualifying work credits. By encouraging the immigrant to take one of these three courses of action, the sponsor can effectively bring about the cancellation of the affidavit without actually challenging it directly.
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