USCIS announced yesterday that, due to the implementation of the public charge final rule, beginning February 24, 2020 it will only accept new editions for many of its forms.
The new edition forms include many relevant to our humanitarian based cases:
- Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
- Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status
- Form I-539A, Supplemental Information for Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status (PDF)
- Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility
- Form I-864, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA
- Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver
USE THE CORRECT EDITION
Ensure that any forms you submit that are postmarked on or after 2/24/2020 are the correct edition. If you are not certain whether your forms software has been updated, check the USCIS forms page to verify you are using the correct version.
REMEMBER
VAWA self-petitioners, U visa petitioners, and T visa petitioners are among those classes of immigrants who are EXEMPT from the public charge ground of inadmissibility and are not subject to the Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds final rule. These classes should NOT file Form I-944 if applying to adjust status. However, you must still use the new version of the forms for these petitioners.
NOTE REGARDING I-539
Petitioners and Applicants do not need to report receipt of any public benefits on Form I-539 if the benefits were received before Feb. 24, 2020. USCIS is applying all references to October 15, 2019 in the Public Charge Final Rule as though they refer to Feb. 24, 2020, the new date of implementation.
