WASHINGTON — Starting Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, the Trump administration’s rewrite of the public-charge test is live.

The Department of Homeland Security’s final rule rescinding the 2022 Biden-era public-charge regulations took effect today, per the Federal Register. It applies to applications for admission made on or after Sept. 18 and to Forms I-485 (adjustment of status) postmarked or filed electronically on or after that date. Filings lodged before today generally stay under the narrower 2022 framework.

USCIS guidance issued Aug. 18 spells out how officers will run the statute’s five factors — age; health; family status; assets/resources/financial status; education and skills — plus other relevant evidence, including receipt of means-tested public benefits.

What officers can weigh now

Under the 2022 rule, officers mostly looked at cash assistance for income maintenance and long-term government institutionalization. After today, for benefits received on or after Sept. 18, USCIS says officers may consider “any and all” means-tested benefits — housing aid, food stamps, and similar programs among the examples in agency materials. Benefits received before Sept. 18 are still judged under the tighter 2022 lens.

DHS framed the rescission as restoring officer discretion and aligning with Congress’s self-sufficiency language in 1990s welfare and immigration law. Immigrant-aid groups warn of a chilling effect: families dropping Medicaid, SNAP, or housing help for fear it will sink a green-card file. Twenty-two states led by New York Attorney General Letitia James already sued to block the rule; unless a court intervenes, the effective date stands.

Who is — and isn’t — in the crosshairs

The public-charge ground hits many family- and employment-based adjustment applicants. Refugees, asylees, many trafficking and crime victims (T/U), VAWA self-petitioners, and several other categories remain exempt by statute. Most people who already hold green cards are not re-tested just for living here — the fight is at the visa and adjustment gate.

If an officer finds someone inadmissible only as a likely public charge, USCIS may invite a public charge bond (Form I-945) rather than an automatic denial. Bond amount is supposed to track expected government assistance over roughly five years.

Dated Friday, Sept. 18, 2026: DHS public-charge rescission effective; broader means-tested benefits may count for I-485s filed today forward; 2022 rule still governs earlier filings — Federal Register, USCIS.

Sources