Hundreds of thousands of green card applicants inside the United States will soon face a more expansive financial vetting process after U.S. citizenship and Immigration Services announced plans to scrap a 2022 Biden administration rule and restore a wider-ranging public charge standard — one that allows immigration officers to weigh whether applicants have drawn on government benefit programs such as Medicaid, food stamps, or housing assistance.
The final rule is expected to be submitted for public inspection Thursday and to take effect early the following week, according to USCIS officials. Roughly 588,000 adjustment-of-status applicants annually would fall under the revived public charge review, a figure DHS cited in its November 2025 proposal that excludes visa applicants abroad and those seeking entry at the border.
The public charge test itself is a longstanding feature of American immigration law, used to gauge whether a prospective permanent resident is likely to become dependent on government support. What has shifted repeatedly across administrations is the definition of which benefits trigger scrutiny. Before the first Trump term, a 1999 policy framework defined a public charge narrowly as someone "primarily dependent on the government for subsistence," with officers concentrating on cash welfare and government-funded long-term institutional care. A 2019 Trump administration rule dramatically widened that scope to encompass SNAP benefits, most Medicaid coverage, and certain housing programs — a change that generated extensive litigation before the Supreme Court permitted its implementation while court battles continued. DHS began enforcing that broader standard in February 2020. The Biden administration subsequently dismantled it, and the 2022 rule it issued largely reverted to the narrower pre-Trump approach.
The regulation now being finalized returns to the framework used during the first Trump administration. Officers will be empowered to conduct individualized assessments weighing an applicant's age, health, family circumstances, assets, financial resources, education, and job skills, alongside any receipt of means-tested public benefits — a category that can include food stamps, Medicaid, and housing assistance, USCIS officials confirmed.
The 2022 Biden rule had confined DHS consideration largely to cash welfare payments for basic living expenses and long-term institutionalization covered by the federal government. That narrower lens will be replaced once the new rule takes effect.
USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow framed the change in terms of fiscal responsibility, saying in a statement that the federal government "is reaffirming the requirement of self-reliance, protecting public resources and ending policies that encouraged dependency on the backs of hard-working American taxpayers." He added that under President Trump, USCIS "is restoring the basic principle that immigrants must be able to support themselves."
DHS acknowledged in its November 2025 rulemaking that the policy's reach could extend well beyond those directly subject to review. The department projected a potential "chilling effect" causing approximately 950,000 individuals in immigrant households to disenroll from, or simply avoid enrolling in, public benefit programs — an impact the agency said could surpass what formal assessments capture.
The rule covers noncitizens within the United States seeking to adjust their status to lawful permanent residence, as well as noncitizens applying for immigrant or nonimmigrant admission, except where Congress has established exemptions. Those exemptions have historically covered certain refugees, asylees, and people in humanitarian protection categories, including Special Immigrant Juveniles, qualifying victims of trafficking and crime, and self-petitioners under the Violence Against Women Act.
On the question of household benefits, USCIS officials clarified that assistance received by an applicant's family members will not be attributed directly to the applicant. Officers may, however, take such benefits into account when evaluating the applicant's overall financial picture — for example, if the pattern of household benefit use suggests the applicant cannot sustain the family financially, or if those benefits are effectively supporting the applicant.
For cases filed before the rule's effective date, USCIS said officers will consider means-tested public benefits only if they were received on or after that date. Benefits used prior to the effective date will generally be relevant only when they involved cash assistance for income maintenance or government-funded long-term institutionalization.
Alongside the regulatory change, USCIS intends to release an updated version of Form I-485, the document used to apply for permanent residence or adjustment of status. Once the rule is in force, earlier editions of the form submitted — whether by mail or electronically — on or after the effective date will be rejected.
Notwithstanding the political intensity surrounding the public charge debate, actual denials on those grounds have remained rare in practice. DHS data covering fiscal years 2020 through 2024 show that formal public charge denials of adjustment applications stayed at low levels throughout that period.
This story is based on information provided by USCIS officials and previously published reporting. No additional facts have been introduced.