The Harsh Public Charge Rule is Gone - For Now

Applications and petitions received by USCIS on or after July 29, 2020, will not require a Form I-944, Declaration of Self-Sufficiency, or information on the receipt of public benefits in Part 5 on Form I-539, Part 3 on Form I-539A or Part 6 on Form I-129.  This is significant because USCIS’ recently implemented “Public Charge” rule can put a huge burden on the applicant or petitioner to provide extensive financial documentation to show that that they will not be a public charge in the United States.  At least for now, this burden has been lifted. 

On July 29, 2020,  the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) in State of New York, et al. v. DHS, et al. and Make the Road NY et al. v. Cuccinelli, et al. enjoined the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from enforcing, applying, implementing, or treating as effective the Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds Final Rule for any period during which there is a declared national health emergency in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

We are waiting for USCIS to issue further guidance regarding the use of affected forms, and we will continue to keep our clients updated. Please contact us if you have any additional questions about the public charge rule.