Trump Administration Reinstates Stricter Green Card Eligibility Rules
New policy allows federal officials to deny green cards to applicants likely to need public assistance.
The Trump administration's updated regulations concerning the issuance of green cards took effect Friday, empowering federal officials to assess whether applicants are likely to require public benefits before granting them permanent residency in the United States.
The revised criteria require immigrants seeking green cards to disclose their current and anticipated future reliance on social benefits. This information will now be a factor in the decision-making process for permanent residency and work authorization.
Approximately 1.3 million green card applications were pending as of December 2025, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data. Denial rates for these applications vary by visa category but are estimated to range between 10% and 16%.
The new policy revokes measures implemented in 2022 under the Biden administration, which had reduced the financial scrutiny applied to immigrant applicants. The Trump administration's approach aims to restore a focus on self-sufficiency for immigrants.
Under the updated rule, immigration officers can consider a broader range of public benefits when determining if an applicant is likely to become a "public charge." While specific programs are not enumerated by name, the policy encompasses "any means-tested public benefits," potentially including programs like SNAP (food stamps), Medicaid, and housing assistance.
Officials may also examine the financial circumstances and benefit usage of an applicant's family members. The Department of Homeland Security stated that the policy reaffirms the requirement of self-reliance, protects public resources, and ends practices that could lead to dependency on taxpayer-funded assistance.
Critics of the rule have voiced concerns about its potential to discourage immigrants from seeking necessary social benefits, fearing it could negatively impact their green card applications. In August, several Democratic lawmakers introduced the Protect American Values Act to block funding for the rule change. A coalition of 22 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit this week seeking to halt the policy, arguing that a decline in migrants' use of assistance programs could result in billions of dollars in lost federal funding for these states.