This week, the Department of Homeland Security has removed the Public Charge (“Final Rule”) criteria updates from former President Trump’s era. But before we get into those details, let’s look at the three different agencies.

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USCIS

The lockbox facility is still taking 60-90 days to accept, process, cash checks, and alert petitioners of receipt of their I-129F petitions. Again, this is largely due to the surge of petitions at the end of last year, in addition to COVID-19 related shutdowns. If you have not heard from the lockbox regarding your NOA (form I-797c), text message, email, or having gotten your check cashed, you can reach out to them after the 30-day mark. Their contact information is here

https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/organization/directorates-and-program-offices/management-directorate/office-of-intake-and-document-production

Secondly, the timeline for I-129F processing remains at 5.5 – 7.5 months as per official USCIS tables. However, due to the lingering backlog caused by COVID shutdowns, you will probably experience more like a 6-10 month processing window. If you are outside “normal” processing times, you may submit an online inquiry or contact the USCIS directly.

For adjustment of status, the timeline for the I-485 is roughly the same as it was pre-COVID. You can expect anywhere from 12-24 months to get your green cards following marriage on a K visa. However, what has changed is the public charge policy, which I’ll discuss further below.

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NVC

The situation with the NVC is still the same as before. As you know, they can only forward petitions when the embassies are ready to accept new applications. So, in addition to the NVC’s normal 4-6 week timeline, you can expect many additional weeks before the consulates request more batches of cases.

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US Embassies

Most non travel banned countries are trying desperately to resume and fulfill President Biden’s Executive order to “restore faith” in the immigration system. As such, he’s mandated that embassies resume as quickly as possible, especially for immigrant visas and this includes Fiance visas.

As for Travel-banned countries, routine visa processing has not fully resumed. They are still processing on an emergency-only basis. The other alternative was the Milligan V. Pompeo lawsuit, but even this is debated right now because a judge has ruled that all K visa couples should be able to get interviewed, not only the ones on the lawsuit. There’s been little development after this point. If you are involved and know more about the details, please share so I can broadcast the news next time.

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Trump’s Public Charge Policy updates are Removed

If you remember from last year, former President Trump updated Public Charge by introducing tighter rules on income (allowing officers to ask up to 250% of the minimum poverty limits), health insurance being a “heavily weighted positive factor”, tighter “totality of circumstances”, Medicaid being listed as an insurance program which would be considered public charge, form I-944, and much more. This new set of updates was so hotly debated, that many courts intervened and blocked the policy more than once.

President Biden’s latest Executive order was for the DHS to review the Public Charge policy, leading them to consider the strict form of Public Charge, the “final rule”, to be not in the best of national interest. It has been removed, and the DHS is currently following the previous, less strict, version of Public Charge (i.e. the 1999 interim field guidance). For official news releases, see the DHS here:

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/03/11/2019-public-charge-rule-vacated-and-removed-dhs-withdraws-proposed-rule-regarding

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What are the agencies doing right now?

For the time being, the USCIS has said that the law is effective immediately, even if their forms don’t necessarily show the correct procedure. For instance, the form I-485 for Adjustment of Status (Green Card) mentions having to submit form I-944. This isn’t required anymore, however, it’ll take time for the USCIS to update the forms and issue the changes. They say that you should ignore some of it and submit the correct documents.

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/public-charge

Next, if you’ve already submitted your Adjustment of Status and it’s pending, the USCIS will implement the previous public charge criteria. For example, if you sent in the I-944, they will effectively ignore it and not base decisions on it.

Overall, this is a developing situation. So there will be further updates, news, and clarifications going forward. Consult the USCIS website if you have questions.

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What does it mean for you?

Reverting to the previous Public Charge criteria means many things:

Form I-944 is no longer required. You can stop filling out, submitting, or worrying about this difficult form’s requirements. The USCIS has stopped requiring the form immediately. And if you’ve already sent it in, the USCIS will not look at it.

Health Insurance – most likely health insurance is no longer required for applicants, but that hasn’t explicitly been said by the US Department of State. But since it was part of former President Trump’s “Final Rule”, it’s highly likely you do not have to comply with the strict Health insurance requirements such as proving your K visa partner will be covered immediately.

Form I-485 – will definitely be revised following changes (because it had asked for Form I-944 in the instructions). But for now, if you have to submit an I-485 for your partner’s GC, you should ignore the form I-944 and it’s requirements.

Form I-864 – may alter slightly, but not significantly.

Form DS-5540 – at the interview stage is no longer required. You do not fill it out or submit it for the K visa interview.

A few more changes apply. Please consult the USCIS website for details.