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Beginning on February 24, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) implemented a policy requiring that every applicant who sought an adjustment of status while the United States make a showing that they would not be a “public charge” ineligible for permanent residency. All applicants for adjustment of status became required to file an 18 page I-944 form which required them to submit a litany of information on their finances and assets, and greatly complicated what was previously a relatively simple process to adjust status.
expansion of the public charge rule
Trump’s administration expanded the rule to include non cash benefits, such as Medicaid or federal housing assistance. Several lawsuits were filed in the wake of the rule’s expansion, arguing that it violated federal law; As a result its enforcement was eventually blocked, a ruling the Trump administration appealed. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider the issue in February of this year, but last Tuesday, the Biden administration announced it would no longer defend the regulation and in turn the Supreme court dismissed several pending appeals, effectively ending the expanded definition of the public charge rule.
how does this affect eb-5 investors?
You might think this wouldn’t have applied to an EB-5 Investor — EB-5 Investors are typically wealthy individuals, who have invested large sums to obtain their visas (at least $500,000.00 if they applied to the program before November 21, 2019, and $900,000.00 if they applied after that date). So why might an EB-5 investor have had cause for concern?
In many instances, wealthy foreigners gifted their children EB-5 investment funds. In many situations, these children, who are attending U.S. colleges on student visas, may have put themselves into situations that could have put their adjustment of status to their EB-5 visa at risk. A common example were students who applied for an Obamacare subsidy through a state health insurance marketplace.
EB-5 investors who have an approved I-526 application and who need to file for an adjustment of status before receiving their visa will be glad to know that USCIS no longer requires them to file an I-944 along with their I-485 (the application form for adjustment of status). The change was announced last week after the Biden administration announced it would no longer defend Trump’s expanded “public charge” rule.
Fortunately, the form I-944 is a thing of the past, and will no longer be required with adjustment of status applications. I-944s already submitted with adjustment of status applications will no longer be considered by USCIS.
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