U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Sept. 18 announced a new edition (09/18/26) of Form I-485, the green card application, and said that only the new edition will be accepted for filings postmarked or submitted online on or after that date. Earlier editions (01/20/25 and 09/04/26) will be rejected. The revision was made to apply the new "public charge" rule, so no grace period was provided.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Sept. 18 announced a new edition of Form I-485, the Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, the green card application. The new form carries an edition date of 09/18/26 at the bottom. USCIS said it will accept only this edition for any I-485 postmarked or submitted online on or after Sept. 18, and will reject the earlier 01/20/25 and 09/04/26 editions. The new edition was revised to reflect the final rule on the "public charge ground of inadmissibility," which took effect Sept. 18. USCIS said it did not provide a grace period during which old editions would also be accepted, citing the need to apply the rule.
Supplementary forms were updated to the same edition date along with the main I-485 form. Supplement J, which employment-based applicants file to confirm a valid job offer or to change jobs, and Supplement A, which is filed when applying under Section 245(i), as well as Forms I-945 and I-356, which relate to public charge bonds, now have 09/18/26 editions. USCIS will apply the new public charge rule to I-485 applications filed on or after Sept. 18, and will review applications filed before that date under the 2022 rule.
Check the Edition Date on Forms You Have Already Completed
If you are preparing your paperwork now, or have handed it to an attorney or a filing agency, you should confirm that the edition date at the bottom of the form and of the last page of the instructions is 09/18/26 before mailing it. The form can be downloaded for free from the USCIS website (uscis.gov/i-485), and some applicants can file through an online account. If a filing submitted on an old edition is rejected, the receipt date will be pushed back, which could affect the priority date or the maintenance of immigration status.
The 09/04/26 edition, released earlier on Sept. 4, had been prepared to reflect an interim final rule on registering permanent residence for children of diplomats, but a preliminary injunction from a federal district court in Maryland (Casa Inc. v. Trump) had blocked that rule from taking effect. With the release of the 09/18/26 edition, that edition is also no longer accepted.
Work Permit Form I-765 and Extension Form I-539 Stay on Old Editions
By contrast, new editions of Form I-765, the application for employment authorization, and Form I-539, the application to extend or change nonimmigrant status, were released on Sept. 15, but USCIS is not accepting them. This is because a federal district court in Massachusetts on Sept. 14 issued an order postponing the effective date of the Department of Homeland Security final rule fixing the length of stay for international students (F), exchange visitors (J) and foreign media representatives (I). Under the court order, USCIS said it continues to accept the 08/21/25 edition of I-765 and the 08/28/24 edition of I-539, and will not accept the 09/15/26 editions. The edition currently accepted for each form can be checked at uscis.gov/forms/forms-updates.