The Trump public charge rule is the 2019 regulation that let immigration officers deny green cards to applicants who used common non-cash benefits like SNAP, Medicaid, and Section 8 housing. Federal courts vacated that rule in November 2020, and a narrower Biden-era regulation has governed public charge decisions since December 23, 2022. On November 19, 2025, the Trump administration proposed a new rule that would rescind the 2022 standard and restore broad officer discretion. That proposal has not been finalized. If you are applying for a green card today, the 2022 standard applies to your case.
What the 2019 Rule Did
Immigration law has always allowed the government to deny a green card to anyone considered likely to become a “public charge.” For roughly two decades before 2019, that meant someone primarily dependent on cash welfare or institutionalized long-term at government expense. Using food stamps or Medicaid occasionally did not count.
The 2019 rule, published in the Federal Register on August 14, 2019, rewrote that understanding.1Federal Register. Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds Under it, you were a public charge if you received one or more designated benefits for more than 12 months total within any 36-month window. Receiving two benefits in the same month counted as two months, so someone on both SNAP and Medicaid could hit the threshold in six calendar months.2eCFR. 8 CFR 212.21 – Definitions
The rule also required officers to make a forward-looking prediction. An applicant who had never used a single benefit could still be denied if their financial profile suggested they were “more likely than not” to reach the 12-month threshold at some point in the future. Applicants had to file Form I-944, a Declaration of Self-Sufficiency, disclosing credit reports, credit scores, tax returns, and health insurance information.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-944, Declaration of Self-Sufficiency
Benefits That Counted Under the 2019 Rule
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- Section 8 housing assistance under the Housing Act of 1937
- Federally funded Medicaid, with exceptions for emergency care, applicants under 21, and pregnant women (during pregnancy and 60 days postpartum)
- Long-term institutionalization in a government-funded facility
Before 2019, only SSI, TANF, and long-term institutionalization were counted. Adding SNAP, housing vouchers, and Medicaid was the change that reached the most people, because those programs serve millions of working immigrant families who would never have qualified as public charges under the earlier standard.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Final Rule on Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility
How the Rule Was Struck Down
The 2019 rule drew immediate legal challenges. On November 2, 2020, a federal district court in Illinois vacated it nationwide. The Department of Homeland Security stopped defending the regulation and formally stopped applying it on March 9, 2021, returning to the 1999 Interim Field Guidance that had governed for the previous two decades.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Public Charge Resources
The 2022 Standard That Applies Now
DHS published a replacement rule in September 2022, effective December 23, 2022. Under this standard, you are considered a public charge only if you are “primarily dependent on the government for subsistence,” meaning you receive cash assistance for income maintenance or are institutionalized long-term at government expense.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Clarifying the 2022 Public Charge Final Rule
Non-cash benefits like SNAP, Medicaid, and housing assistance do not count. Form I-944 was discontinued. Credit scores are no longer part of the assessment.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-944, Declaration of Self-Sufficiency The statutory factors officers still weigh are age, health, family status, assets and financial resources, and education and skills.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
The November 2025 Proposed Rule
On November 19, 2025, DHS published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to rescind the 2022 regulation. The proposal would strip out the codified definitions of “public charge,” “public cash assistance for income maintenance,” and “long-term institutionalization at government expense,” and would give immigration officers broad case-by-case discretion to weigh health, wealth, and use of various public benefits without the guardrails the 2022 rule established.8Regulations.gov. Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility
The proposal would also tighten public charge bond rules. Today, DHS can cancel a bond early if it decides the immigrant is no longer likely to become a public charge. The proposed rule would eliminate early cancellation and automatically breach the bond if the bonded person receives any means-tested public benefit before becoming a citizen, permanently departing, or dying.8Regulations.gov. Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility
The public comment period closed on December 19, 2025. As of early 2026, no final rule has been published. If one is issued, it would apply only to applications filed on or after its effective date. Until then, the 2022 standard governs every pending and new case.
Who Is Never Subject to a Public Charge Test
The statute at INA 212(a)(4)(E) exempts several categories of immigrants from the public charge ground of inadmissibility, regardless of which regulation is in effect:7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
- VAWA self-petitioners
- U visa holders
- Qualified aliens under 8 USC 1641(c), including trafficking victims and certain battered spouses and children
Refugees and asylees are also exempt, as are Special Immigrant Juveniles, children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned and who are under the jurisdiction of a juvenile court.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 7 – Special Immigrant Juveniles
Situations Where the Test Does Not Apply
Some common immigration steps do not involve a public charge determination at all:
- Renewing a green card with Form I-90.
- Applying for U.S. citizenship. Benefit use has no bearing on naturalization eligibility.
- Returning from a short trip abroad as a permanent resident, unless you were outside the U.S. for more than 180 continuous days or fall into other narrow exceptions like being in removal proceedings.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Public Charge Resources
- Claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit. Neither is a public benefit under any version of the rule.
Benefits received by U.S. citizen family members, including your U.S. citizen children, are not counted against you as the applicant. This has been true under every version of the rule and is one of the most widely misunderstood points.
The Affidavit of Support Is Separate
The Form I-864 Affidavit of Support requirement is not the public charge test and has not changed through any of these rule swings. Most family-sponsored and some employment-based immigrants must have a financial sponsor who signs a binding contract to maintain them at 125% of the federal poverty guidelines, or 100% for active-duty military sponsoring a spouse or child.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1183a – Requirements for Sponsors Affidavit of Support
For 2026 in the 48 contiguous states, that means $27,050 per year for a two-person household and $41,250 for a household of four. Alaska and Hawaii thresholds are higher.12HHS ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines
The contract is enforceable. If the sponsored immigrant receives means-tested benefits, the agency providing them can demand repayment from the sponsor and sue to collect. The obligation ends only when the immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen, earns 40 qualifying quarters of work under Social Security, dies, or permanently leaves the U.S. and abandons permanent resident status.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1183a – Requirements for Sponsors Affidavit of Support Divorce does not end it.
Public Charge Bonds
If an officer finds you inadmissible on public charge grounds but you are otherwise eligible for a green card, USCIS may invite you to post a public charge bond. The minimum amount is $1,000, and the actual amount is set case by case.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 10 – Public Charge Bonds You cannot volunteer one; USCIS must offer it through a Notice of Intent to Deny. Under current rules the bond is canceled when you naturalize, permanently leave the country, or die, provided you haven’t breached it. If the November 2025 proposal is finalized, receiving any means-tested benefit would automatically breach the bond, and the option of early cancellation would disappear.