Title 8, Aliens and NationalityRelease 119-102
§1156 Unused Immigrant Visas
Title 8 › CHAPTER 12 — IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY › SUBCHAPTER II — IMMIGRATION › Part I — Selection System › § 1156
Summary
When an immigrant visa goes unused because its holder was denied entry and removed, missed the visa’s expiration, or wasn’t a preference immigrant, it can be given to another qualified person.
Full Legal Text
Title 8, §1156
Aliens and Nationality, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
If an immigrant having an immigrant visa is denied admission to the United States and removed, or does not apply for admission before the expiration of the validity of his visa, or if an alien having an immigrant visa issued to him as a preference immigrant is found not to be a preference immigrant, an immigrant visa or a preference immigrant visa, as the case may be, may be issued in lieu thereof to another qualified alien.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1996—Pub. L. 104–208 substituted “denied admission to the United States and removed” for “excluded from admission to the United States and deported”. 1965—Pub. L. 89–236 substituted provisions allowing immigrant visas or preference immigrant visas to be issued to another qualified alien in lieu of immigrants excluded or deported, immigrants failing to apply for admission, or immigrants found not to be preference immigrants, for provisions relating to revocation of approval of petitions which, with minor
Amendments
, were transferred to section 1155 of this title.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1996 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 104–208 effective, with certain transitional provisions, on the first day of the first month beginning more than 180 days after Sept. 30, 1996, see section 309 of Pub. L. 104–208, set out as a note under section 1101 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1965 AmendmentFor
Effective Date
of amendment by Pub. L. 89–236, see section 20 of Pub. L. 89–236, set out as a note under section 1151 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
8 U.S.C. § 1156
Title 8, Aliens and Nationality
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102