“The Secretary of State shall terminate the registration of any alien who fails to apply for an immigrant visa within one year following notification to the alien of the availability of such visa, but the Secretary shall reinstate the registration of any such alien who establishes within 2 years following the date of notification of the availability of such visa that such failure to apply was due to circumstances beyond the alien's control.”
This means thatThis means that the foreign national relative must begin applying for an immigrant visa within one year of being notified that a visa is available. If the applicant fails to do so, INA § 203(g) allows the Embassy or Consulate to reinstate an applicant's registration within two years of being notified of an available visa. The applicant must demonstrate that their failure to apply for an immigrant visa within the one-year window was due to circumstances beyond their control.