IMPORTANT SIV UPDATE:

The government has paused issuing visas to Afghan SIV applicants. 

The deadline to file an application for COM approval under the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program was December 31, 2025. 

If you have a pending COM application, the U.S. government has stated that the deadline to submit any outstanding documents for your pending COM application is June 5, 2026.

If you receive a COM denial letter and you are able to appeal it, you should still have 120 days from the date the decision letter was sent to you, even if that date is after June 5, 2026. The June 5, 2026 deadline is only to submit additional documents for a pending application.

You can learn more about what this means for SIV applicants here.

Last updated May 21, 2026

Summary

This article is for visa applicants who received a letter from a U.S. embassy telling them that their visa application:

• has been inactive for over one year 

and 

• is being cancelled based on Section 203(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act

Why Did I Receive a Cancellation Letter?

Under U.S. law, you have 12 months to take action on your immigrant visa application or it will be canceled. 

Cancellation letters typically say:

Dear Visa Applicant:

We refer to your application for an immigrant visa. Section 203(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act requires that your registration be canceled and any petition approved on your behalf canceled, if you do not apply for your immigrant visa within one year of being advised of visa availability, or fail to present evidence purporting to overcome the basis of your refusal under INA 221(g) within one year following the refusal.

You were advised of this requirement on ________________, but we have not received a response from you since then. As a result, you are hereby notified that your application for a visa has been canceled and any petition approved on your behalf has also been canceled.

Your application may be reinstated and any petition revalidated if, within one year, you can establish that your failure to pursue your immigrant visa application was due to circumstances beyond your control.

The U.S. Embassy in Doha has started sending cancellation letters to people whose visa applications have been inactive for over one year. This rule applies to all visa applications, including visa applications for Afghans that were transferred to Doha through the CARE relocation program.

What You Should Do to Avoid Receiving a Cancellation Letter

If you choose to postpone your visa interview, you may want to take steps to avoid your case being deemed “inactive.” At least once per year, you should contact the government to request that your case remain open while you wait for the travel ban to be lifted. If your case is still at the National Visa Center (NVC) and has not yet been transferred to a U.S. Embassy, you should use the NVC Public Inquiry Form to make that request. If your case has already been transferred to a U.S. Embassy, you should use that Embassy’s visa navigator to make that request. Make sure to keep a copy of your request and the government’s response, including any automatic replies confirming that your request was received.

What You Should Do if You Have Received a Cancellation Letter

• Contact the U.S. embassy (using the Visa Navigator) to explain that you were not able to continue your visa application within one year  because of reasons beyond your control. 
• Examples of reasons beyond your control may include:
  • Medical emergencies
  • Natural disasters
  • Inability to travel to the country where the visa case was transferred 
• Examples of reasons NOT beyond your control include:
  • Convenience
  • Not wanting to travel to the visa interview
• It is the U.S. embassy’s decision whether to accept the explanation for why you could not continue the visa application.