Starting today, USCIS's new public-charge guidance applies to covered Form I-485 adjustment-of-status applications postmarked or filed electronically on or after 18 September 2026. A new form edition is required, and the old one is no longer accepted. Statutory exemptions still apply to a number of categories.

Officers now have broader discretion to weigh means-tested public benefits received on or after today, including programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, and housing assistance, as part of a totality-of-the-circumstances assessment. Receiving one of these benefits does not automatically make someone inadmissible; USCIS has to weigh an applicant's full circumstances, not one factor alone. The assessment can also take into account certain means-tested benefits received by family members, not only the applicant directly. Benefits received before today are still judged under the old, narrower 2022 rules. If a covered application is found inadmissible solely on public-charge grounds, USCIS may determine that a public-charge bond, Form I-945, is appropriate. An applicant can't submit one unprompted. Several states and local governments are challenging the rule in court, but it is taking effect today while those cases proceed.

The date on your application matters. File a covered case before today and the old rule applies. File today or later and the new guidance applies, regardless of when any benefits were received. Worth reviewing your own and your household's benefit history before filing, especially outside an exempt category.