There is no correction stage. A second entry to fix the first voids both under INA 204(a)(1)(I)(i) — and takes the person out of the drawing.
Reviewed by Ekaterina Fitenko, Esq. — Florida Bar #1064536. With 20+ years of experience in the legal field, she advises Diversity Visa selectees on adjustment of status and consular processing, in English and Russian.
The entry is submitted once and judged as submitted. There is no request for evidence, no notice of deficiency and no window in which a file can be replaced. This is the structural fact behind every question in this article: the remedies people look for do not exist, and the alternatives they improvise usually make things worse.
Submitting a second entry to correct the first destroys both. Under INA 204(a)(1)(I)(i), reflected in 22 CFR 42.33(a)(4), no more than one petition may be submitted by or on behalf of any person for a single fiscal year, and if two or more are submitted, all of them are void and the person is not eligible for consideration that year.
The rule makes no exception for good faith. A duplicate filed by a relative trying to help, or by an agency "resubmitting" after an error, voids the correct entry exactly as a deliberate duplicate would.
Names must match the passport exactly, in the same order and spelling, including transliteration — a name entered in a different order is a different person to the system. Dates follow the format the form specifies, not the local convention, and a date entered as day-month where month-day is expected produces a birth date the documents will not support at the interview.
A photograph that fails the specifications, a country of chargeability claimed without a basis, and an omitted spouse belong to the same class: discovered late, unfixable then.
A marriage, a divorce, a birth or an expired passport after submission is a change in circumstances, not a mistake in the entry. These are accounted for later in the process, with documents, at the stage where the case is assembled. They do not call for a new entry, and treating them as if they did brings the duplicate rule down on a case that had nothing wrong with it.
The confirmation number appears once and is not reissued on request. Losing it does not void the entry, but it removes your ability to read the result, since Entrant Status Check requires it. The entry remains in the drawing and you may simply never learn what happened to it.
No. A second entry in the same fiscal year voids all entries for that person under INA 204(a)(1)(I)(i), including the correct one. The remedy is to enter accurately in the next cycle.
Both are void. The rule counts entries submitted by or on behalf of a person, so a well-meant duplicate has the same effect as a deliberate one.
It is a serious defect, because the name must match the passport exactly and the documents are compared at the interview. It cannot be corrected after submission, and submitting again would void the entry.
No. That is a change in circumstances handled later in the process with documents. Submitting another entry would void the one you have.
No, the entry stands. But Entrant Status Check requires the number, and it is not reissued on request, so without it you have no way to read the result.
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This article is informational only and is not legal advice. Immigration rules, fees and processing times change; confirm current requirements with the agency or with counsel before relying on anything here.
Fitenko Law PLLC, 11555 Heron Bay Blvd, Suite 277, Coral Springs, FL 33076 (main office); 600 Three Islands Blvd, Hallandale Beach, FL 33009 (by appointment only). Phone: (305) 315-3425. Email: fitenkolaw@gmail.com