I do things like this. I think too far in the future. So after finding out Reading is a piece of shit city (thanks, Moon), I asked my SO to write down other companies he knows of that have international offices. I thought we could start in the USA, wait for 3-4 years for US citizenship, then move abroad.
But I found a job made for my SO. In Prague. I have no idea how much longer the US visa could take. They're saying it'll be 16 months just for petition approval (that would be until July 2014), then at least 4 more months until visa in hand. I'm thinking- screw the USA. Let him apply for this job in Prague and if he gets it- we'll go to the Czech Republic for a few years! When we're ready to move back to the USA, we'll apply for residency then. Maybe the visa system won't be as broken.
Am I insane for thinking this? Gosh I'm just so excited!!!
(Just emailed my SO this idea and he said he has some design degree from some conference held by this company. So that would definitely help him out. OMG. Czech Republic??!!)
And like you said, if you withdrew your application, I am fairly certain it would have no affect on future applications.
About visa stuff- we wouldn't necessarily have to withdraw. Let's say we really don't get petition approval until June of next year, then we could delay about 6 more months on the next step. Finally, he has 6 months to use the visa. Potentially, we could be in the (other) CR for two years or so before the visa runs out. We'd have to see how all that works out. We'll have to see.