8 U.S.C. § 1204
Section 1204 · Immediate relative and special immigrant visas
This is § 224 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter)
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Amarante v. Rosenberg (1964)
Most recently applied in 376 F. Supp. 2d 1150 - United States v. Grand China, Inc. (November 2004)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
A consular officer may, subject to the limitations provided in section 1201 of this title, issue an immigrant visa to a special immigrant or immediate relative as such upon satisfactory proof, under regulations prescribed under this chapter, that the applicant is entitled to special immigrant or immediate relative status.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1965—Pub. L. 89–236 struck out reference to sections 1154 and 1155 of this title and substituted “special immigrant or immediate relative” for “nonquota immigrant”.
Effective Date of 1965 Amendment
For 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.
Cross References
Definition of consular officer, immigrant visa, special immigrant, see section 1101 of this title.