Both houses of Congress have passed a law that will allow widows of US Citizens who had I-130/I-485 packages pending before USCIS at the time of their spouse’s death to self-petition within two years of their US Citizen’s death, provided their marriage was bona fide and they have not remarried.

The law is retroactive, which means that widows who were denied the green card in the past, will have two years to self-petition once the law is signed.

The law is expected to be signed into law by President Obama.