Public Charge Rule is Back!

USCIS announced today that it will resume implementation of the Inadmissibility on Public Charge Final Rule nationwide immediately.  A federal court issued a nationwide injunction against the enforcement of the Final Rule on 07/29/2020.  The Third Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed the injunction order on two different occasions.  On 09/11/2020, the Third Circuit issued a full stay of the nationwide injunction and authorized DHS to implement the Final Rule immediately. 

On 09/22/2020, USCIS announced that it will resume implementation of the Public Charge Final Rule as follows:

• USCIS will apply the public charge final rule to all applications and petitions postmarked or submitted electronically on or after Feb. 24, 2020, including pending applications and petitions. 

• For applications or petitions submitted by commercial courier (for example, UPS, FedEx, or DHL), the date on the courier receipt is treated as the postmark date.

• USCIS will not re-adjudicate any applications and petitions that were approved between 07/29/2020 and 09/22/2020 (even though the I-944 form was not submitted.).

• For pending I-485 applications filed after 02/24/2020, applicants may be required to file Form I-944, Declaration of Self-Sufficiency according to the Final Rule.

• USCIS will accept I-485 applications filed before 10/13/2020 without all required forms and evidence.  Requests for evidence will be issued for the missing documents.  

• After 10/13/2020, USCIS will reject I-485 applications filed without all required forms (e.g., I-864, I-944) and evidence at the time of filing.

• Similarly, USCIS will issue RFEs for missing evidence for I-129, I-129CW, I-539 and I-539A applications, presumably based on the same schedule above. 

The Department of State, which controls overseas visa applications, will likely follow suit soon by resuming the implementation of the Public Charge Rule.