US green card rule widens public charge test, raising hurdles for Indians

The Trump administration has expanded the US public charge rule for green card applicants. The change gives officers wider discretion and could affect Indian applicants seeking permanent residency.Stock photo used for illustrationImmigrants seeking green cards or permanent residency in the US, including Indians, will face stricter scrutiny under a new Trump administration rule that expands the definition of a "public charge". The change could lead to applications being denied if officials believe a person is likely to depend on government support.The rule, finalised by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), will take effect on September 18. It will apply to Forms I-485 for permanent residence or adjustment of status that are postmarked or electronically submitted on or after that date.Under the earlier rule, only two types of public benefits were considered grounds for denying a green card application: cash assistance for income maintenance and long-term institutionalisation at the government's expense. Under the new rule, USCIS officers will weigh a wider set of factors, including age, health, family status, finances and educational background. They can also consider the use of public benefits by an applicant's dependents, regardless of the dependent's immigration status.In an official statement, USCIS said: "To make public charge inadmissibility determinations, USCIS officers will consider the five statutory factors and any other factor relevant to assessing the alien's likelihood at any time of becoming a public charge, including the alien's receipt of means-tested public benefits, such as cash assistance for income maintenance, housing assistance, food stamps, financial aid for college, or any other similar benefit." If an officer finds that a person applying for lawful permanent residence is inadmissible only because they are likely at any time to become a public charge, the officer may invite the applicant to post a public charge bond. The guidance follows the Department of Homeland Security's decision to rescind the 2022 Biden-era public charge regulations. The final rule was announced on July 16 and published in the Federal Register on July 20. According to an analysis by immigration attorneys Cyrus Mehta and Damira Zhanatova, "The public charge rule would provide even more discretion to officers to deny adjustment of status applications in light of the USCIS memo that indicates that adjustment of status requires extraordinary discretion."According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit organisation working in healthcare, about 13.5 million Medicaid or CHIP enrollees live with at least one non-citizen, including 5.6 million citizen children, who may be at risk of lower enrolment. Its analysis found that between 1.4 million and 4.1 million Medicaid and CHIP enrollees living with a non-citizen might leave the programme because of the new rule. At the same time, many applicants are exempt from the rule. These include refugees and asylees, certain Afghan and Iraqi nationals who worked with or for the US government, certain Cuban and Haitian entrants, special immigrant juveniles, victims of human trafficking, victims of qualifying criminal activity, certain Violence Against Women Act self-petitioners and applicants for Temporary Protected Status, among others.Of the nearly 1.2 million people who received a green card in 2023, about 78,100, or 7 per cent, were from India. That year, 60 per cent of Indians who received a green card did so either as an immediate relative of a US citizen or green card holder or as another family member of a citizen. Overall, the new rule widens the grounds on which green card applications can be assessed and denied, while leaving several categories of applicants exempt.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 19, 2026 18:40 IST