The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has finalized a rule rescinding the 2022 Public Charge rule, which has governed public charge determinations for AOS applicants since December 2022. This rule becomes effective on September 18, 2026. Rather than replacing it with a new formal regulation, DHS will govern public charge determinations through USCIS policy guidance, giving USCIS officers significantly broader discretion in determining whether an applicant is likely at any time to become a public charge.

Highlights of Changes:

• The guardrails from the 2022 rule are eliminated.
  • These included regulatory definitions, a limited list of public benefits that count, and a more defined adjudicative framework.
  • The 2026 framework instead centers on the statutory factors in INA § 212(a)(4), together with an individualized totality-of-the-circumstances review and potentially other case-specific or empirical information relevant to self-sufficiency.
• The scope of benefits that may be considered is substantially broader.
  • For benefits received before September 18, 2026, USCIS will continue to apply the 2022 framework, under which generally only public cash assistance for income maintenance and long-term institutionalization at government expense is considered.
  • For benefits received on or after September 18, 2026, USCIS may consider any means-tested public benefit, including federal, state, local, and tribal benefits, as part of the totality of the circumstances.
  • The new framework may reach non-cash benefits and means-tested tax benefits that were not previously considered, although USCIS has clarified that benefits not covered by the 2022 rule and received before September 18, 2026, do not need to be reported.
• The statutory factors remain the starting point, but their application is less defined.
  • Officers must consider age, health, family status, assets/resources/financial status, and education and skills, and may consider other individualized factors and empirical data relevant to self-sufficiency.
  • USCIS may consider family members’ benefit use to the extent it bears on the applicant’s financial circumstances, although the focus remains on the applicant rather than independently treating a family member’s receipt of benefits as the applicant’s receipt.
• Disability alone cannot support a public charge determination, although health remains a required statutory factor.
• Form I-864 is no longer necessarily a favorable factor.
  • Although USCIS may consider an adequate Affidavit of Support, the new framework gives officers discretion to determine whether consideration of the I-864 is warranted based on the facts of the case.

For employment-based adjustment of status cases (EB-1, EB-2/NIW, EB-3), public charge has generally been a low-friction element of a well-documented filing. The broader inquiry makes a thorough and consistent financial and benefits record more important, particularly for beneficiaries with dependents, recent employment changes, self-employment, or equity-based compensation. Applicants should also be prepared for public charge issues to receive greater attention at the adjustment interview. USCIS has indicated that the 2026 changes will be implemented through limited revisions to the existing Form I-485 and its instructions, rather than a new replacement form. The new guidance applies to Forms I-485 filed on or after September 18, 2026.

Note: This DHS/USCIS action is separate from, but in many ways consistent with, the Department of State’s already-more-stringent consular screening posture, including the public charge-based visa issuance pause for nationals of 75 countries that took effect January 21, 2026.