If a visa form asks whether anyone has filed an immigrant petition on your behalf, answer based on the filing history, not whether you ultimately received a green card. A petition can count even if it remains pending, was denied, or was later withdrawn. Read the precise question and requested details.
Identify the right type of filing
An I-130 family petition or an I-140 employment immigrant petition commonly raises this question. A tourist visa application, an ordinary nonimmigrant extension, and a labor certification are not automatically the same thing as an immigrant petition. Self-petitions may also be relevant.
Check old receipt and approval notices, family records, and documents held by a former employer or attorney. If details are uncertain, make a reasonable effort to obtain them and explain the uncertainty accurately rather than selecting “no” merely because you lack a receipt number.
Be accurate about the consequences
A prior immigrant petition does not automatically bar every nonimmigrant visa. Its significance depends on the visa category and applicable intent rules. False or misleading material answers can create separate immigration problems. [1][2]
Provide the filer, petition type, approximate filing date, and outcome when requested. Review reused DS-160 information carefully; an answer that was accurate before a relative filed a petition may now require updating.
Example: an old family petition was never approved
A parent may have filed I-130 years earlier when the applicant was a child, and the case may never have produced a visa. A question asking whether anyone ever filed an immigrant petition still concerns that filing. “I did not immigrate” answers a different question. Provide the known history and outcome without inventing a receipt number.
An employer may also have begun a process without actually filing I-140. Ask for the records needed to distinguish a labor certification, internal preparation, and an immigrant petition submission. They are connected stages but not identical filings.
If old records cannot be located, describe what is known and what remains uncertain when the form or officer permits an explanation. Do not convert uncertainty into a confident false denial. Keep copies of the final answers and supporting notices for future applications, since a truthful answer may still need updating when another petition is filed later.
The answer depends partly on who filed the petition. Changes to the application should follow the DS-160 correction process.
Primary sources
Sources checked: October 31, 2026.