New Public Charge Review for Green Card Applicants Takes Effect

The policy is particularly relevant to Indian immigrants pursuing permanent residence in the United States, including employment-based and family-based applicants.

Department of Homeland Security

US Citizenship and Immigration Services has begun applying a broader “public charge” framework to certain green card applicants, allowing immigration officers to consider a wider range of means-tested government benefits when deciding whether an applicant is likely to become primarily dependent on government support.

The change took effect Sept. 18, 2026, following a Department of Homeland Security final rule that rescinded the public charge regulations adopted in 2022. The rule was published in the Federal Register on July 20 and applies to adjustment-of-status applications postmarked or electronically submitted on or after Sept. 18.

The policy is particularly relevant to Indian immigrants pursuing permanent residence in the United States, including employment-based and family-based applicants. USCIS specifically lists employment-based categories such as priority workers, professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional ability, skilled workers and professionals among categories subject to the public charge ground of inadmissibility. Certain humanitarian and other categories are exempt.

Wider range of benefits can be considered

Under guidance issued by USCIS on Aug. 18, officers must consider five factors required by the Immigration and Nationality Act: an applicant’s age; health; family status; assets, resources and financial status; and education and skills.

Where required, officers can also consider Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, which is generally used to demonstrate that an immigrant has adequate financial sponsorship.

The significant change concerns government benefits.

For benefits received before Sept. 18, USCIS said it would consider only public cash assistance for income maintenance and long-term institutionalization at government expense under the previous framework.

For means-tested benefits received on or after Sept. 18, however, USCIS says officers may consider a much broader range of assistance, including cash assistance, housing assistance, food assistance, financial aid for college and other similar means-tested benefits. The agency’s Aug. 18 announcement says USCIS will consider “any and all benefits” falling within the new framework.

That does not mean receipt of a particular benefit automatically results in denial of a green card application.

USCIS says officers must make an individualized determination based on the “totality of the circumstances.” Its Policy Manual states that officers review the relevant statutory factors and the record as a whole rather than treating a single circumstance, such as a period of unemployment, as automatically establishing that someone will become a public charge.

Who is affected?

The public charge ground applies to many people seeking adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence unless Congress has exempted their immigration category.

Categories subject to the test include immediate relatives and other family-sponsored immigrants, fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens, diversity visa immigrants and several employment-based categories, including priority workers, advanced-degree professionals and people of exceptional ability, skilled workers, professionals, investors and religious workers.

USCIS lists several categories as exempt, including refugees and asylees, certain Afghan and Iraqi special immigrants, Special Immigrant Juveniles, certain trafficking victims with T status, qualifying crime victims with U status and certain Violence Against Women Act self-petitioners, among others.

For Indian and Telugu immigrants, the practical significance is therefore not limited to family-sponsored green cards. Applicants adjusting status through common employment-based categories may also be subject to the public charge analysis.

The change does not mean every Indian immigrant, visa holder or green card applicant is automatically affected in the same way. Whether the public charge ground applies depends on the immigration category and the individual circumstances of the case.

Public charge bonds return as an option

The new framework also provides a potential route for some applicants whom USCIS finds inadmissible solely on public charge grounds.

An officer may, at the agency’s discretion, invite such an applicant to post a public charge bond. The applicant cannot simply submit a bond preemptively; USCIS must first invite the applicant to do so.

Bonds can be posted as cash or through a Treasury-certified surety company using Form I-945, Public Charge Bond. USCIS Policy Manual guidance states that a public charge bond must be at least $1,000, with the actual amount determined individually.

USCIS says an accepted bond can allow an applicant who is otherwise inadmissible only because of the public charge ground to have the adjustment-of-status application approved.

Major shift from 2022 framework

DHS said in its final rule that rescinding the 2022 regulations restores broader discretion to immigration officers to evaluate relevant circumstances in public charge cases. The department said the earlier framework was too restrictive and did not adequately implement congressional policy concerning immigrant self-sufficiency.

The Sept. 18 effective date is important for applicants because DHS expressly provided that adjustment applications postmarked or electronically submitted on or after that date fall under the new rule. Benefits received before Sept. 18 are treated under the earlier, narrower standard for purposes of benefit-use history.

For Telugu and other Indian immigrants preparing to file Form I-485, the changes make it particularly important to distinguish between immigration eligibility for a particular benefit and how an applicant’s individual use of means-tested assistance may be evaluated later in a public charge determination.

Because USCIS makes public charge decisions case by case, applicants with questions about how their financial circumstances or benefit history affect a pending or planned green card application may need individualized immigration-law advice rather than assuming that receipt of a benefit automatically makes them ineligible for permanent residence.