Withdrawing your USCIS case should be a last resort, but sometimes it’s the smartest option. Learn how to cancel your USCIS case with a simple withdrawal letter and understand how it fits into the broader immigration process.
“When Should I Consider Withdrawing My Immigration Case at USCIS?”
Every now and then, people come to see us at the office with a completely messed-up case. These are usually cases that they have filed pro se, which means they filed them without an attorney. As things get more complicated, we sometimes have to consider withdrawing the case.
It’s not something you ever want to do, but in some situations, pulling the plug is the best move.
Key Takeaways:
USCIS doesn’t have to allow a withdrawal, so talk to an attorney before making a move.
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Now, you never really want to withdraw a case because you've obviously paid your filing fees. Here’s why withdrawing a case in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is a last resort:
But in certain circumstances, it is a really good idea to go ahead and withdraw the case.
Here are some cases related to withdrawing a case in USCIS.
One time, somebody came to see us, and after he had filed his citizenship application, he had gotten arrested, and his criminal charges were pending. It looked like we were not going to be able to get the criminal case disposed of before the citizenship interview, so we went ahead and withdrew the case—after verifying his receipt notice and confirming the status with USCIS.
We had another situation where a young couple came to see us, and they had gotten their case so complicated, and there were so many bad facts in the case that we decided to withdraw that case as well, and the clients agreed.
What happened in that situation is that the couple had been fighting off and on over time, and there was a family member who was not happy about the marriage. That family member had gone down to the National Visa Center and reported them as having these marital problems, and we were worried that if we went ahead with the interview with everything just as it was, it'd really put us in a bad light, and the case would probably be denied because there are things worse than a denial because you can be caught with a fraud or a misrepresentation allegation, and that's even worse than just having your immigrant visa denied.
Your next move matters—get immigration help now before you withdraw your case the wrong way.
In most situations, USCIS is glad to close the file and move on to the next case. It's relatively easy to withdraw a case:
They're generally pretty willing to do that. They'll do it all the way up until the interview. What you don't want to do is make them do all this extra work and then try to withdraw it.
Now, USCIS is not required to allow you to withdraw the case. We have had a few situations where we tried to withdraw a case, and immigration service did not allow us to do that, so it's a good idea if you're thinking about withdrawing the case or if you think that there's something wrong with your case that you want to make sure that you go talk to a competent immigration attorney. You want to see a good immigration lawyer and make sure that everything gets squared away properly and that you're getting good advice as to whether or not you want to withdraw the case.
It's not something you're going to do in every case, but it is an option, and sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. That's an old expression, and what it means is that sometimes you want to be able to live and fight another day. You want to have another chance, and so in a lot of these cases that we've withdrawn, we've re-prepared them, we've gone over the facts and done things a little bit differently than the people did without an attorney, and we've been able to get those cases approved.
If you have any questions about your case or if you're wondering, "Is there something wrong with it that would make me want to withdraw it?" feel free to give us a call.
This also highlights how important it is to have proper legal guidance with the immigration path. Many of the problems we’ve seen stem from individuals not getting professional help at the start. Avoid mistakes—talk to someone experienced before deciding how to cancel USCIS case or go through immigrant visa processing without guidance.
As I said, if you have any questions, call us at 314-961-8200 or email us at [email protected].
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