Status as of September 17, 2026. The DHS interim final rule allowing U.S.-born children of foreign government employees to register as lawful permanent residents took effect on September 4, 2026 and was published on September 9 (91 FR 57249). A correcting amendment published on September 16 (91 FR 58575) restored evidence requirements that had been deleted by mistake and is applicable as of September 4. Comments on the rule are open until October 5, 2026. A preliminary injunction issued on September 2 in Casa Inc. v. Trump bars the agencies from enforcing Executive Order 14418 against a certified nationwide class, and USCIS states it will not implement the rule or the new editions of Forms I-485 and G-325R as to class members.
A child born in the United States on or after September 4, 2026 to a qualifying foreign government employee may be eligible to register as a lawful permanent resident, if neither parent was a U.S. citizen at the time of birth and the other eligibility requirements are met. The path used to exist only for children of accredited foreign diplomats. It was widened on September 4, 2026, corrected on September 16, and is currently constrained by a federal court order in Maryland. This page sets out what the rule says, what the correction changed, what evidence the regulation now requires, and where the litigation stands.
Contents
What the rule does
The interim final rule amends 8 CFR parts 101 and 264 to replace the term «foreign diplomatic officer» with the broader term «foreign government employee.» Children born in the United States to an accredited diplomat have long been able to register voluntarily as lawful permanent residents, because they do not acquire citizenship at birth. The rule extends that registration route to a much larger group of foreign government staff, and applies where neither parent was a U.S. citizen and at least one parent was a foreign government employee at the time of the child’s birth.
DHS also issued new 09/04/26 editions of Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, and Form G-325R, Biographic Information (Registration). The rule was effective on September 4, 2026, the day DHS issued it, and was published in the Federal Register on September 9 under docket USCIS-2026-0496, RIN 1615-AD24. Comments are due by October 5, 2026.
Where the rule came from
The rule implements Executive Order 14418, «Continuing to Protect the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,» signed August 6, 2026 and published August 11 (91 FR 51991). That order lists categories of U.S.-born children who, in the administration’s view, fall outside birthright citizenship, and directs agencies to align their regulations accordingly.
The order followed the Supreme Court’s decision of June 30, 2026 in Trump v. Barbara, 146 S. Ct. 2438, which held that children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and are citizens at birth. The Court described the exceptions to the rule as narrow, naming the children of foreign ministers among them. Executive Order 14418 invokes that exception while identifying additional categories that the administration treats as outside birthright citizenship. The Maryland court has enjoined the order as applied to the certified class, but expressly declined to decide whether each of those categories is facially constitutional.
The registration route itself is the practical consequence of the citizenship position: a child treated as outside the Citizenship Clause is a noncitizen from birth, and the regulation gives that child a way to hold lawful status instead.
Who counts as a foreign government employee
Executive Order 14418 defines the term in section 2(b) to include four groups:
ambassadors;
persons employed by a foreign embassy or consulate who are nationals of that foreign country;
persons employed by a foreign government in an official capacity;
persons employed by an international organization that possess international-organization immunity.
The third category is the widest, and it is what separates the new rule from the old one. Accreditation as a diplomatic officer is no longer the dividing line.
The rule also names categories that do not count. According to USCIS, these include personal employees or attendants of foreign officials, certain employees of state-owned enterprises, third-country nationals working for foreign governments, certain contractors, and foreign government employees visiting the United States in a personal capacity. Official capacity, not any employment connection to a foreign state, is what the rule turns on.
Who can register as a permanent resident
According to USCIS, a person may be eligible to register and receive a Green Card on this basis if all of the following are true: the person was born in the United States to a foreign government employee; neither parent was a U.S. citizen; the person has had continuous residence in the United States since birth; and the person has not abandoned that residence.
Two further conditions follow from the regulation and the USCIS guidance. Under 8 CFR 264.2(a), the applicant must be physically present in the United States at the time the application is submitted. And permanent residence does not apply to a person until they relinquish any rights, privileges, exemptions or immunities available to them as the child of a foreign government employee, where applicable, which is what Form I-508 does. Where USCIS verifies through the Department of State that immunity has already been lost, that form is not needed.
Registration is voluntary and is made on Form I-485. If the application is granted, permanent residence is recorded as of the applicant’s date of birth. Where the applicant is under eighteen, a parent or legal guardian prepares and signs the application on the child’s behalf.
What the September 16 correction changed
When DHS reformatted 8 CFR 264.2 in the September 9 rule, the amendatory instructions unintentionally deleted the subparagraphs listing what an applicant must submit. The correcting amendment (91 FR 58575, FR Doc. 2026-18949) restores that list and makes two substantive conforming edits.
First, in 8 CFR 264.2(c)(2)(v), Form I-508, Waiver of Rights, Privileges, Exemptions, and Immunities, is now required only «if applicable», recognising that children whose parents were foreign government employees but not diplomatic officers may not need to file it. Second, in paragraph (vi), the applicant must submit official confirmation of the parent’s foreign government employment rather than of the parent’s diplomatic classification.
DHS states that these evidentiary changes were already reflected in the Form I-485 information collection approved with the rule, and issued the correction without notice and comment on the basis that it fixes a technical error and makes no substantive policy change. The correction is effective September 16 and applicable as of September 4, 2026.
What evidence the corrected rule requires
The restored text of 8 CFR 264.2(c)(2) lists the following:
Item | Detail |
|---|---|
Form I-485 | Completed, with the fee required by 8 CFR 106.2 and the initial evidence required by the form and the regulation |
Form G-325A | Biographic Information |
Birth certificate | The applicant’s own |
Form I-508 | Executed waiver of rights, privileges, exemptions and immunities, if applicable |
Proof of parent’s employment | Official confirmation of the parent’s foreign government employment, including occupational title and, if applicable, diplomatic classification at the time of birth |
Travel history | A list of all arrivals in and departures from the United States |
Residence | Proof of continuous residence in the United States |
Photographs | Two, per the form instructions; the immigration officer may waive them for just cause |
One subparagraph, (iii), is marked as reserved in the corrected text.
One line in that list deserves a flag. The corrected regulatory text expressly lists Form G-325A. The USCIS Policy Manual evidence checklist issued in September 2026 does not list a separate G-325A, and USCIS has said since 2018 that the form is no longer a routine attachment to Form I-485. Applicants should follow the current Form I-485 instructions and USCIS filing guidance, and verify this apparent inconsistency before filing rather than relying on the regulatory text alone.
How the court injunction limits the rule
On September 2, 2026, Judge Deborah L. Boardman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland granted a classwide preliminary injunction in Casa Inc. v. Trump, No. 8:25-cv-00201. The order bars the agency defendants and those acting with them from enforcing or applying Executive Order 14418 against any member of the certified class, or otherwise failing to recognise the citizenship of class members. The court did not enjoin the President, did not enjoin section 2(d) of the order, and did not enjoin section 3(b), which requires agencies to issue implementing guidance.
The certified class covers any child born in the United States after February 19, 2025 whose mother was unlawfully present and whose father was not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of birth, or whose mother’s presence was lawful but temporary and whose father was not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
The court reasoned that Barbara had already decided that the children in this class are citizens at birth, so the 2026 order is almost certainly unconstitutional as applied to them. It expressly declined to rule on whether each of the order’s carve-outs survives a facial challenge, leaving that question open.
USCIS has posted matching alerts on its Green Card, Form I-485 and alien registration pages: given the injunction, DHS will not take actions to implement the rule or the 09/04/26 editions of Forms I-485 and G-325R specifically as to any member of the certified class, or otherwise conflict with the injunction, unless and until the government obtains relief from it.
The boundary is not perfectly clean. In a footnote, the court acknowledged the government’s point that the class definition, as written, could reach children of ambassadors, since ambassadors are temporarily present. It noted that neither the government nor the Supreme Court had previously read the class that way, and invited the government to move to modify the definition after conferring with plaintiffs.
Children born before September 4, 2026
The rule applies to children born on or after its effective date. DHS states that children born to foreign government employees before September 4, 2026 will be treated consistently with the regulations in place at the time of their birth. For children of accredited diplomats, that older framework already allowed voluntary registration as a lawful permanent resident under 8 CFR 101.3.
Registration if the child does not apply
Registering for permanent residence is a choice, not a requirement. DHS updated Form G-325R to account for children born in the United States who do not acquire citizenship at birth, choose not to register their permanent residence under the amended regulations, and are subject to the alien registration requirements of the INA.
Under the USCIS guidance on alien registration, where INA 262 applies, a child born in the United States to a foreign government employee must be registered if the child remains in the country for 30 days or longer after birth, and a parent registers a child under 14.
What happens next
Three dates matter. Comments on the interim final rule close on October 5, 2026, after which DHS may issue a final rule. The injunction remains in place unless the government obtains relief; the court invited the defendants to move to modify or dissolve it after implementing guidance issues, under Rule 60(b)(5). And any motion to narrow the class definition, which the court flagged as a live possibility, would change who is protected and therefore who the rule can be applied to.
USCIS issued policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual on September 9, 2026 addressing the regulatory changes and defining key terminology.
Frequently asked questions
Does this rule grant citizenship?
No. It does the opposite in effect: it provides a lawful permanent residence registration route for U.S.-born children whom the administration treats as not having acquired citizenship at birth. Whether that treatment is lawful is the subject of the litigation in Casa Inc. v. Trump.
Who is covered by the term foreign government employee?
Ambassadors; embassy or consular employees who are nationals of the sending country; persons employed by a foreign government in an official capacity; and persons employed by an international organization that possess international-organization immunity.
What exactly did the September 16 correction fix?
It restored the list of required evidence in 8 CFR 264.2(c)(2), which was deleted by mistake, and clarified that Form I-508 is required only where applicable and that the applicant submits proof of the parent’s foreign government employment rather than diplomatic classification.
Can a family file now?
The rule is in effect, but DHS says it will not implement it as to members of the certified class in Casa Inc. v. Trump while the injunction stands. Whether a particular child falls inside or outside that class is a legal question best put to a licensed immigration attorney before filing.
Is a child who does not register required to do anything?
Where the INA registration requirement applies, a child who remains in the United States for 30 days or more after birth must be registered, and Form G-325R was revised to cover children in that position.
When do comments close?
October 5, 2026, through the Federal eRulemaking Portal under DHS Docket No. USCIS-2026-0496.
Official sources
Source | What it covers |
|---|---|
The rule itself, effective date, comment deadline | |
Restored evidence requirements in 8 CFR 264.2(c)(2) | |
Definitions and policy the rule implements | |
Codified filing requirements — check the update status, as the September amendments may not yet be incorporated | |
Eligibility conditions and the injunction alert | |
Current form edition, instructions, filing addresses | |
Form G-325R and the registration requirement | |
Policy Manual guidance and terminology |
This material is informational and current as of September 17, 2026. It is not legal advice. The rule, the forms and the scope of the court injunction are all subject to change; verify against the official sources above and consult a licensed immigration attorney before filing.