When the US Petitioner Dies: Humanitarian Reinstatement and INA 204(l) for Guatemalan Relatives

This page is general information, not legal advice. Humanitarian reinstatement is discretionary, and INA 204(l) does not cure other problems in a case. Before you send anything, talk to a licensed US immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative, especially if you entered the US without inspection or have ever had a removal order.

Quick summary: If the US citizen or permanent resident who filed your Form I-130 dies, the case does not have to die with them. There are two separate routes. Humanitarian reinstatement is only for the principal beneficiary of an I-130 that USCIS approved before the death. It is discretionary, has no form and no fee, and is a written request to the USCIS office that approved the petition. INA 204(l) covers pending or approved petitions, but only if the applicant resided in the United States when the relative died and still does; for a petition with derivative beneficiaries, the petition may be approved if any one surviving beneficiary meets that residence requirement. USCIS says that if you were required to have a Form I-864, you need a new one from a substitute sponsor (filing fee $0 on the USCIS fee schedule). If the death happened in Guatemala, the death certificate comes from RENAP, front and back, with a certified English translation. Checked October 15, 2026.

Our visa bulletin page shows where each family category stands. This page explains the two routes USCIS describes for when the brother, mother or spouse in the US who filed the petition dies, and what a Guatemalan family has to gather. The general income rules for sponsors are on our I-864 affidavit of support page; this page does not repeat them.

The two routes at a glance

Sources: USCIS humanitarian reinstatement page; USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 9.

Humanitarian reinstatement: who can ask

USCIS states the basic rule this way: “You may only request humanitarian reinstatement if you are the principal beneficiary of an approved Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, and your petitioner relative has died”

Two limits matter for families in Guatemala:

• The petition must have been approved before the death. USCIS says: “We cannot grant humanitarian reinstatement if the petitioner died while the petition was pending” If the petition was still pending, USCIS points to INA 204(l) instead (next sections).
• Only the principal beneficiary can ask. “Derivative beneficiaries are not eligible to request humanitarian reinstatement; however, if we approve the principal beneficiary’s request, any eligible derivative beneficiary may also benefit from relief” Derivatives cannot make the request themselves; whether they benefit depends on USCIS approving the principal beneficiary’s request and on their own eligibility.

Meeting those conditions is not enough on its own. “Exercising discretion means we compare positive factors against negative factors to make a decision” and USCIS adds that, beyond the basic requirements, “your request must warrant a favorable exercise of discretion”

How to ask

“There is no form or fee to ask for humanitarian reinstatement” Instead: “You need to make a written request with supporting evidence to the USCIS office that originally approved the petition”

What to send with a reinstatement request

USCIS lists the following. The left column follows the USCIS list; the right column is the Guatemala angle.

The discretionary factors USCIS names include the impact on family living in the United States (especially US citizens, permanent residents or others lawfully present), advanced age or health concerns of the beneficiary or following-to-join family members, lawful residence in the United States for a lengthy period, and “Ties (or lack thereof) to your home country” USCIS also mentions “Other factors, such as unusually lengthy government processing delays” The list is not closed: you can add any other factor you believe weighs in favor, with supporting documentation.

The substitute sponsor

USCIS is explicit that “your petitioner’s death does not change how the Form I-864 requirement applies to you” If you were required to have an I-864, you need a new one from a substitute sponsor. The USCIS Policy Manual adds: “A substitute sponsor is needed even if the deceased petitioner has completed the Affidavit of Support”

Who qualifies, per the USCIS reinstatement page and the I-864 instructions:

• A US citizen, US national or lawful permanent resident
• At least 18 years old
• Related to the intending immigrant as a spouse, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, sibling, child (at least 18), son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, or legal guardian

On the form, the substitute sponsor checks Item Number 1.f. The instructions add: “If you are a substitute sponsor, you must sponsor each intending immigrant”

The USCIS fee schedule (Form G-1055, last reviewed October 7, 2026) lists Form I-864 at $0. For the income table, household size, assets and joint sponsors, see our I-864 affidavit of support page.

INA 204(l): for relatives living in the United States

INA 204(l) is a separate route described in the USCIS Policy Manual. It applies to adjustment applications, certain petitions and related applications adjudicated on or after October 28, 2009, if all of these are true:

• “The applicant resided in the United States when the qualifying relative died”
• “The applicant continues to reside in the United States on the date of the decision on the pending application”
• The applicant is in one of the listed groups, which include a beneficiary of a pending or approved immediate relative petition and a principal or derivative beneficiary of a pending or approved family-based petition

What residence means. The USCIS Policy Manual describes residence for INA 204(l) purposes as the applicant’s “principal, actual dwelling place in fact, without regard to intent” The manual notes that “the statutory definition of residence does not require the applicant to show that his or her presence in the United States is lawful” but also that “Execution of a removal order, however, terminates an alien’s residence in the United States” The manual also says: “An applicant who was temporarily abroad when the qualifying relative died does not need to prove that he or she still resides in the United States” Whether a particular trip counts as temporary is a question for your attorney.

For families split between Guatemala and the US. The manual says that “as long as any one surviving beneficiary of a covered petition meets the residence requirement, then the petition may be approved despite the death of the qualifying relative” In that case, all the beneficiaries may immigrate to the same extent they could have if the relative had not died. A beneficiary whose home is in Guatemala, on a petition where no beneficiary lives in the US, does not meet this condition; if the petition was approved before the death, humanitarian reinstatement is the route to ask about.

How the 204(l) request is made

• If no adjustment application was filed yet when the relative died, the beneficiary may apply for adjustment once USCIS approves or reinstates the underlying petition, if applicable, or include the 204(l) request with the adjustment application.
• If an adjustment application was already pending, “the applicant should notify USCIS of the death before USCIS adjudicates the adjustment application”

The catch for anyone who entered without inspection

INA 204(l) replaces the missing petitioner, not the rest of the case. The manual says it “does not limit or waive any other eligibility requirements or adjustment bars that apply, other than the requirement for a petitioner or principal beneficiary.” That means “the applicant must have been eligible to apply for adjustment at the time of filing and at final adjudication, including admissibility and visa availability, if applicable”

The manual gives a direct example: the death of the qualifying relative does not relieve an applicant seeking adjustment under INA 245(a) “of the need to establish a lawful inspection and admission or inspection and parole” For a Guatemalan relative in the US who crossed without being inspected, 204(l) alone does not solve that problem. Get individual legal advice before filing anything.

Guatemalan documents: the death certificate and the translation

If the petitioner died in Guatemala, the State Department’s reciprocity page for Guatemala lists the document as the Certificado de Defunción and says: “The applicant needs to request death certificates from RENAP (National Registry of Persons) and not his or her municipality” It also says: “Both the front and back pages of the document are required” The same page directs applicants to RENAP, not the municipality, for birth and marriage certificates.

The USCIS reinstatement checklist asks for the death certificate with “a certified translation is required if it is not in English” A RENAP certificate is in Spanish, so it needs one. The USCIS Policy Manual sets the standard: “The translator must certify that the translation is complete and accurate, and that the translator is competent to translate from the foreign language into English” and “A summary of a document prepared by a translator is unacceptable” (8 CFR 103.2(b)(3)).

The USCIS sources we reviewed cover translation; they do not set out an apostille rule for this request. Ask your representative before paying for steps you may not need.

If the petitioner died in the United States, the death certificate is a US record and the Guatemalan RENAP steps above do not apply to it.

What the sources do not say

We checked the USCIS humanitarian reinstatement page and the INA 204(l) chapter of the Policy Manual. They do not give:

• a fixed deadline to file a reinstatement request, a processing time, or a validity period
• a separate biometrics requirement for the reinstatement request
• the full procedure after approval, including how the case moves to the immigrant visa stage or what happens to the priority date

Do not assume a guaranteed visa or a new priority date after reinstatement. Note also that USCIS marks its humanitarian reinstatement page as last reviewed June 7, 2013, so confirm current practice with your representative.

Related pages

• Affidavit of Support (I-864) for a Guatemalan relative: 2026 income table
• Visa bulletin for Guatemalan family petitions
• Immigrant visa interview in Guatemala City