Why Your Visitor Application Expires After Three Years (And How to Renew Without Missing a Visit)
Been approved to visit at Sussex Corrections Institution? That approval won't last forever. Virginia DOC visitor applications expire three years after approval, so renewing early is how you keep visits uninterrupted.
Virginia DOC's visitation system has a built-in expiration: all visitor applications expire three years after approval. Even if you've been visiting regularly, your approval will lapse unless you renew. Approvals run through the Central Visitation Unit (CVU), which reviews and approves visitors before they can enter any DOC institution. Whether you're applying for the first time or renewing, you'll submit the required forms online through the DOC public website for CVU review.
Minors need approval too, and their paperwork connects to an adult. When applying for a minor, attach their application to an adult's application. On visit day, the minor must come with their parent, legal guardian, or another adult who's already an approved visitor.
Once your approval expires, you lose "approved visitor" status - even if nothing else has changed. The CVU must approve visitors before they can enter DOC institutions, so an expired application means you'll be turned away at the door until you reapply and get approved again.
Tip: Because CVU approval is required before you can enter, confirm your current approval status early - especially if you have a trip planned - so you have time to reapply if needed.
- Find your approval date and count three years forward - Visitor applications expire three years after the approval date, so that date is the clock that matters.
- Renew early if you live in Virginia - Submit a new, updated visitor application online at least 45 days before your expiration date to keep visitation privileges uninterrupted.
- Renew even earlier if you’re out of state - If you live outside Virginia, submit a new, updated visitor application online at least 90 days before expiration for uninterrupted privileges.
- Use the DOC public website for the application - All visitors (adults and minors) submit the specified forms online for Central Visitation Unit approval before they’ll be permitted to visit.
- ✓ Schedule as soon as you’re eligible: visits may be scheduled up to 14 days in advance.
- ✓ Keep weekend limits in mind: visitors are permitted a maximum of one visit per weekend.
- ✓ Double-check the current institution schedule before you travel: institutions typically allow visiting on Saturdays, Sundays, and state holidays, but procedures and schedules vary by institution and can change at any time.
- ✓ If you’re doing video visitation and you’re 18+: have a valid, government-issued picture ID ready.
For video visitation, timing and ID are everything. Using home internet? Log into the GTL system 15 minutes before your visit starts. Visiting through an AFOI Visitor Center? Arrive at least 20 minutes early. Either way, all visitors 18 or older need a valid, government-issued photo ID to participate.
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