If you are filing for a green card from inside the United States this autumn - after a K-1 entry and a wedding, or as the spouse of a U.S. citizen or permanent resident filing the I-130 and I-485 together - the form is changing under your feet. On September 18, 2026 USCIS publishes a new edition of Form I-485, and every older edition mailed on or after that day is rejected. No grace period. Form I-864, the affidavit of support, has a new edition too, with its own deadline two weeks later.

By the end of this post you will know which edition to print and when, what changed in the form, what the new public charge questions ask, the I-864 rule your American spouse needs to hear about, and the fees as they stand today. Everything below was checked on the official USCIS pages on September 15, 2026.

The dates that decide whether your package is accepted

USCIS goes by the postmark on the envelope (or the date you submit online), not by the day you signed the form:

  • Postmarked or submitted before September 18, 2026: USCIS accepts the 01/20/25 edition and the 09/04/26 edition.
  • Postmarked or submitted on or after September 18, 2026: USCIS accepts only the 09/18/26 edition. The 01/20/25 and 09/04/26 editions are rejected.
  • The 09/18/26 edition cannot be used early. A package with the new edition postmarked before September 18 is rejected as well.

A rejected package comes back weeks later, unfiled, and you start the clock again. The edition date is printed in the footer of every page, in mm/dd/yy format: before you seal the envelope, check that page 1 and page 24 both say 09/18/26.

Right now uscis.gov/i-485 shows a preview of the 09/18/26 form and instructions so you can prepare. On September 18 the preview is replaced by the real form; download that one and file it.

What actually changed: Part 9, the public charge questions

I compared the preview of the 09/18/26 edition with the current 09/04/26 edition page by page. The form is still 24 pages; Parts 1 to 8 and 10 to 14 are unchanged. The rewrite is in Part 9, "General Eligibility and Inadmissibility Grounds", in the public charge block:

  • The public charge block is now Item Numbers 57 to 64 (it was 57 to 66), so every question after it moved up by two numbers. The old Item 67 about removal proceedings is now Item 65, the old Item 76 about unlawful presence since April 1, 1997 is now Item 74, and so on to the end of Part 9.
  • Item 57 used to ask "What is the size of your household?" It now says "Describe your family status (for example, your household size)." The instructions say to describe it in your own words.
  • Item 61 now asks for the highest level of education you have completed, not the highest degree or grade of school.
  • Item 62 asks you to list your skills - certifications, licenses, skills from work experience, educational certificates. The instructions add training, occupational licenses and foreign language skills to the examples.
  • The two old benefit questions are gone. Item 63 (SSI, TANF, state or local cash assistance) and Item 64 (long-term institutionalization at government expense) are replaced by one question, new Item 63: "Have you ever received any means-tested public benefit?"
  • New Item 64 is a table for anyone who answered Yes: the benefit, the start and end dates, the dollar amount if applicable, and the reason you received it. The instructions ask for a detailed explanation of why - job loss, long-term illness, insufficient income are their examples - and say the question covers past benefits and any you are receiving on the day the I-485 is filed.

Why the form changed, and what "means-tested public benefit" means now

The form follows the Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility final rule, published in the Federal Register on July 20, 2026 and effective September 18, 2026. It rescinds the 2022 rule. On August 18, 2026 USCIS issued Policy Manual guidance on how officers apply it to I-485 cases postmarked or submitted on or after September 18. Two things from that guidance matter for a family case:

  • Officers weigh five statutory factors - age; health; family status; assets, resources and financial status; education and skills - together with the I-864 your spouse signs. That is why the form now asks about family status, skills and education in more detail.
  • Which benefits count depends on when you received them. Benefits received before September 18, 2026 are considered the way the 2022 rule considered them: public cash assistance for income maintenance and long-term institutionalization at government expense. Benefits received on or after September 18, 2026 are considered broadly: USCIS lists "means-tested public benefits, such as cash assistance for income maintenance, housing assistance, food stamps, financial aid for college, or any other similar benefit."

The instructions say applicants, with one exception, do not attach any initial evidence about public charge with the I-485; if USCIS wants more, it sends a Request for Evidence. What the form does need is an honest answer to Item 63 and, if it is Yes, a complete table in Item 64 with the reason. An empty table next to a Yes is an RFE waiting to happen.

Form I-864 has a new edition too, and it concerns your American spouse

On August 31, 2026 USCIS published a new edition of Form I-864, dated 08/24/26. This one has a 30-day grace period: the 10/17/24 edition is accepted until September 30. Beginning October 1, 2026 USCIS accepts only the 08/24/26 edition, by postmark or electronic submission date.

USCIS does not reject an I-485 because the I-864 inside is an old edition. It treats the old edition as missing initial evidence under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(8), which means an RFE or a denial instead of a rejection at the mailroom. Do not rely on that: put the 08/24/26 edition in the package.

The new edition includes a privacy release: by signing, the sponsor authorizes USCIS to request information from consumer reporting agencies, that is, to pull a credit report. If your spouse has a credit or security freeze on their file, USCIS may not be able to see what it needs to judge the affidavit, and it asks sponsors to lift the freeze promptly when requested. Tell your spouse before they sign, so that request does not sit in a spam folder while the case waits.

Fees as of September 15, 2026

From the USCIS Fee Schedule, Form G-1055, edition 09/09/26:

  • Form I-485: $1,440 on paper, $1,390 online. A child under 14 filing together with a parent's I-485: $950 on paper, $900 online.
  • Form I-765 (work permit), filed with or after an I-485 that was filed with a fee on or after April 1, 2024: $260.
  • Form I-131 (advance parole) with a pending I-485: $630 on paper, $580 online.
  • Form I-130: $675 on paper, $625 online. Not needed if you entered on a K-1 and married your petitioner.
  • Form I-864: no fee.
  • Form I-693 medical: no USCIS fee; you pay the civil surgeon directly.

Pay by credit card with Form G-1450, one per form that has a fee, or by ACH debit; USCIS no longer takes personal checks. Check the fee schedule the week you mail.

What goes wrong

  • Mailing on the 18th with the old form. A package finished on September 16 and dropped off on September 18 is rejected. Postmark it by September 17, or reprint the whole form on the 09/18/26 edition and re-sign.
  • Printing from a saved PDF. The copy on your desktop, in your email or inside a form-filling program is whatever edition it was the day you saved it. Download from uscis.gov/i-485 on the day you print.
  • Mixing pages from two editions. Item numbers moved, so pages from the old and new form do not line up. Print the whole form once.
  • An I-864 on the 10/17/24 edition mailed in October, or one signed before your spouse knew about the credit report release.
  • Answering Yes to Item 63 and leaving Item 64 blank, or listing the benefit without the reason.
  • Copying answers from the old Part 9 by item number. Old Item 70 is new Item 68. Read the question, not the number.

Official pages

If your package is half done and you are not sure which edition you are holding, send me a photo of the page footer and I will tell you. And if you would like my help preparing the whole case, contact me and request my services. I'm always happy to help!