Beneficiaries of a pending or approved I-130 visa petition may request “relief” from revocation of the petition if the petitioner or the principal beneficiary/applicant dies before the final adjustment of status application is adjudicated under certain conditions. The death of an I-130 petitioner does not automatically revoke the underlying petition and neither does the death of the principal beneficiary/applicant revoke the derivative beneficiary’s application if certain conditions are met. Eligible beneficiaries must affirmatively request this relief from USCIS by letter.In order to qualify for this protection, the beneficiary of a pending or approved I-130 petition must have resided in the United States when the qualifying relative died and must continue to reside in the United States on the date the decision on the pending petition or application is made. This does not mean that the beneficiary must have been physically present in the United States when the qualifying relative died, but simply that the beneficiary’s actual residence was in the United States. Additionally, if any one of the beneficiaries of a petition meets this residence requirement, then all the beneficiaries meet it as well. It is not necessary for each beneficiary to meet the residence requirement on their own.Therefore, if it is the principal beneficiary who has died, the petitioner may continue to seek approval of the petition so long as at least one derivative beneficiary meets the residence requirements. However, note that this does not give derivative beneficiaries any right to the petition. The petitioner continues to retain his or her right to withdraw the petition at any time. If a petition beneficiary has obtained § 204(l) relief under this new provision of the INA but does not qualify for adjustment of status, he or she may leave the United States to undergo consular processing. The waiver application can be filed after the petitioner’s death as long as the surviving beneficiary qualifies under INA § 204(l). The death of the qualifying relative will be deemed to be the equivalent of a finding of extreme hardship necessary for some waivers. If the beneficiary does not meet the residence requirement of the new INA rules, the USCIS continues to have the authority to reinstate the petition on a case-by-case basis under 8 CFR § 205.1(a)(3).