USCIS Broadens the Green-Card 'Public Charge' Test to Weigh Benefits Used by an Applicant's Relatives

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued policy manual guidance on Aug. 18 replacing the 2022 public charge framework with a broader, discretionary standard effective Sept. 18. Officers weigh five statutory factors, an applicant's age, health, education, skills and family status as it relates to assets and financial resources, and may consider whether a U.S. citizen child or other relative has used health or social service programs even when the applicant has not. DHS issued a final rule on July 20 rescinding the Biden-era regulation.

Counting a relative's benefit use against an applicant can pressure mixed-status families to forgo programs their citizen children are entitled to.

Spouses, children, parents of immigrants, priority workers, investors and armed forces personnel are subject to the test; asylees, refugees, trafficking victims and special immigrant juveniles are not. It applies to Form I-485 filings postmarked on or after Sept. 18.