USCIS expands public charge rules for most green card applicants starting September

USCIS implemented new public charge guidance in September 2026, extending the financial independence requirement to most green-card categories. The rule covers family-based relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, fiancé(e)s, priority workers, professionals, skilled laborers, investors, religious workers and diversity visa entrants, and clarifies that children are subject to the test. Exemptions persist for refugees, asylees, trafficking victims, special immigrant juveniles, VAWA survivors, Afghan and Iraqi interpreters, certain Caribbean entrants and diplomats.

The Form I-864 remains crucial, but a sponsor’s ability to support is now more closely examined, and periods of unemployment, age or disability alone will not trigger denial. Applicants are judged by the filing date: the new guidance applies to submissions on or after September 18, 2026, earlier filings follow the 2022 or 1999 rules. USCIS also retains the option to require a public-charge bond via Form I-945 for inadmissible cases.