8 U.S.C. § 1156
Section 1156 · Unused immigrant visas
This is § 206 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter)
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Scalzo v. Hurney (1963)
Most recently applied in Keli v. Rice (August 2008)
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.
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.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
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.
Effective Date of 1996 Amendment
Amendment 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 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 application for admission and Attorney General, see section 1101 of this title.