Public Charge
Last Revised: 2/7/2020 | Spanish (Español)
What is public charge?
Those who apply for lawful permanent residency, temporary visa (student, tourist, work visa), or to enter the U.S., undergo a public charge assessment which determines if the applicant is likely to become dependent on the government for a living. If an applicant is deemed a public charge, their application may be denied.
Applicants who are refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking (T Visa), victims of serious crimes (U Visa), among others, are exempt from a public charge assessment.
Changes to public charge rules
USCIS announced the new public charge rule will take effect, February 24, 2020.
On October 10, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), published proposed changes to public charge rules that would make it difficult for families to obtain a green card. Over 260,000 comments were submitted to the federal register, most of them opposing the new rules. On August 14, 2019, the DHS published the final public charge rule changes to the federal register that were supposed to go into effect on October 15, 2019. Several lawsuits by states, nonprofits, and counties accross the U.S. followed, attempting to stop the new rules from taking effect, resulting in several injunctions that temporarily blocked the new rules.
As of January 27, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 5-4 to allow the DHS to implement the rule changes. USCIS announced the new public charge rule will take effect, February 24, 2020. Only those applications postmarked on or after February 24, 2020 will be subject to the new rule. Usage of newly added benefit programs prior to February 24, 2020 will not be considered during a public charge assessment.
It’s not over! The lawsuits against the new rule continue. The rule may be overturned by one of the courts.
Resources
The best thing you can do is, know your rights and stay up to date with public charge rules, if they apply to you.
Did you know that many immigrants are NOT subject to a public charge assessment? To learn about a specific situation, please visit: https://www.KeepYourBenefitsCa.org/
Public Charge: Does this apply to me?
Know Your Rights! Public Charge Messages For the Community
Blanca Gutierrez, project coordinator at the Community Clinic Consortium was interviewed to help inform the following public charge analysis.
