Update:
USCIS announced on January 31, 2020 that it will implement the rule changes for filings received on or after February 24, 2020. New forms are to be released the week of February 3, 2020.
Original post:
As discussed in a prior post, the administration’s “public charge” rule changes the standard by which a foreign national is determined to be “likely at any time to become a public charge” (and consequently inadmissible to the U.S.). While litigation has delayed the implementation of the rule, on Monday, January 27, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the administration’s request for a stay of the nationwide injunction against the rule, which clears a path for the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to implement the public charge rule within the United States, except for Illinois, which has a statewide injunction that remains in place.
Now that DHS is permitted to implement the public charge regulation, it will likely issue a notice of when the agency will begin implementing the rule and when the agency will require the use of the new forms required under the final rule, including the Form I-129, Form I-485, Form I-539, Form I-864, Form I-864 EZ, Form I-944, and Form I-945.
On the Department of State (“DOS”) side, which controls visa adjudications outside of the U.S., the comment period for the agency’s new form DS-5540 closed on December 23, 2019, and so DOS is expected to further implement its version of the public charge rule following its finalizing of the form and corresponding Foreign Affairs Manual revisions.
© Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC 2020