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Green card rule changes: New US public charge test to assess age, health, finances and more – all you need to know
Effective September 18, 2026, USCIS will reconsider how green card applicants' public charge status is assessed.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued new guidance explaining how officers will assess whether green card applicants are likely to become a “public charge,” with broader consideration of government benefits set to take effect on September 18, 2026.
The guidance follows a final rule from the Department of Homeland Security that rescinds the Biden-era 2022 public charge regulations. The new framework will apply to Form I-485 applications subject to the public charge ground of inadmissibility that are postmarked or submitted electronically on or after September 18.
What is changing under the new public charge guidance?
USCIS said officers will assess whether an applicant is likely to become a public charge by considering the five factors specified by Congress: age, health, family status, assets, resources and financial status, and education and skills.
Officers can also consider other relevant evidence when making a case-by-case determination based on the totality of an applicant’s circumstances.
The agency said this can include an applicant's receipt of means-tested public benefits, including cash assistance for income maintenance, housing assistance, food assistance and financial aid for college.
The timing of benefits will now matter significantly.
For benefits received before September 18, 2026, USCIS said officers will consider only public cash assistance for income maintenance and long-term institutionalization at government expense.
For benefits received on or after September 18, USCIS said it will consider any and all means-tested public benefits as part of the determination.
That represents a major change for applicants whose immigration cases could be affected by the public charge ground.
Who could be affected?
USCIS said the public charge ground generally applies to people seeking adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident unless Congress has specifically exempted their immigration category.
The categories listed as subject to the rule include several family-based and employment-based applicants, including spouses, children and parents of US citizens; certain relatives of lawful permanent residents; priority workers; professionals with advanced degrees; skilled workers and other workers; investors; and religious workers.
However, a large number of applicants are exempt.
The exemptions include refugees and asylees, certain Afghan and Iraqi nationals who worked with or for the US government, certain Cuban and Haitian entrants, special immigrant juveniles, victims of human trafficking, victims of qualifying criminal activity, certain Violence Against Women Act self-petitioners and applicants for Temporary Protected Status, among others.
Applicants should therefore determine whether their particular immigration category is subject to the public charge ground before assuming the new guidance applies to them.
USCIS can consider a wider range of benefits
One of the most consequential parts of the guidance is USCIS' treatment of means-tested benefits received after September 18.
The agency said officers may consider benefits including cash assistance, housing assistance, food stamps and financial aid for college, among other similar benefits.
That does not mean receiving a benefit automatically results in a green card denial.
USCIS said officers will review the relevant evidence and make decisions case by case, considering the totality of the circumstances.
The agency also said the new guidance is intended to guide, rather than prescribe, how officers exercise their discretion.
Public charge bonds could offer another route
The guidance also explains when USCIS may allow an applicant to post a public charge bond.
If an officer determines that an adjustment-of-status applicant is inadmissible only because the person is likely to become a public charge, USCIS may invite that applicant to post a financial bond.
The bond can be submitted as a cash bond or a surety bond through a company certified by the US Treasury.
The amount will depend partly on how much government assistance USCIS believes the applicant could potentially receive over the following five years.
Importantly, applicants cannot simply choose to submit a public charge bond on their own. USCIS said Form I-945 will only be accepted when the agency has invited the applicant to post a bond through a Notice of Intent to Deny.
What green card applicants should know
The new guidance does not mean every applicant who has received government assistance will automatically be denied a green card.
Instead, USCIS will weigh the statutory factors and other relevant evidence when determining whether someone is likely at any time to become a public charge.
The guidance takes effect September 18, 2026, the same date the DHS final rule rescinding the 2022 regulations becomes effective.
For applicants preparing Form I-485 submissions around that date, the distinction between applications filed before and after September 18 could therefore be significant.
USCIS said its August 18 guidance supersedes the agency's previous public charge guidance, including the 1999 Interim Field Guidance. Applicants with complicated financial or immigration histories may need to review the new standards carefully before submitting an adjustment-of-status application.
