US further tightens immigration, student and media visa policies

US further tightens immigration, student and media visa policies. Anwar Iqbal Published August 19, 2026 Updated August 19, 2026 11: 20pm.

Key points

• USCIS remarked the September 18, 2026, edition of Form I-485 will replace the current January 20, 2025, edition.
• The agency will accept the old edition if it is postmarked or electronically submitted before September 18.
• The distinction is significant as Form I-485 is applied by eligible immigrants already in the US to adjust their status to lawful permanent resident.
• During a long journalism career, he has interviewed world leaders and cultural icons, including US Presidents George W.
• The department remarked the new approach is intended to reinforce the statutory requirement that immigrants be self-sufficient rather than primarily dependent on taxpayer-funded benefits.

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration this week tightened US immigration rules further, putting green-card applicants under greater scrutiny, imposing new time limits on foreign students and journalists, and giving immigration officers more power to deny applications.

When the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed that it would replace the application employed by eligible immigrants in the United States to seek permanent residence, the latest change came on Wednesday.

When a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule on public-charge inadmissibility takes effect, the revised Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, will become mandatory on September 18. USCIS remarked there will be no grace period for the new form.

Meanwhile, the new public-charge guidance gives immigration officers a broader framework for deciding whether a person applying for adjustment of status is projected to become a "public charge" – in plain English, someone who is probable to become dependent on administration assistance.

USCIS notes officers will consider the applicant's circumstances as a whole and examine the relevant factors and evidence in determining whether the person is anticipated to become a public charge. Some categories of immigrants are exempt from the public-charge ground of inadmissibility.

Meanwhile, the department remarked the new approach is intended to reinforce the statutory requirement that immigrants be self-sufficient rather than primarily dependent on taxpayer-funded benefits. The rule takes effect September 18.

For immigrants preparing to file for adjustment of status, the most immediate consequence is a change in the paperwork.

Meanwhile, the agency will accept the old edition if it is postmarked or electronically submitted before September 18. It will reject the old edition if it is submitted on or after that date. The new edition, meanwhile, should not be filed before September 18.

In practice, the distinction is significant as Form I-485 is applied by eligible immigrants already in the US to adjust their status to lawful permanent resident. It is not the form applied by individuals seeking a US green card; residents applying for immigrant visas through US consulates abroad generally follow a different process.

Notably, the green-card changes come as the administration is additionally altering the rules governing foreign students, exchange visitors and representatives of foreign media.

For context, a separate DHS final rule will replace the long-standing "duration of status" system for F, J and I non-immigrants with fixed periods of admission and new extension procedures. The rule takes effect on September 15.

Under the new system, students and exchange visitors will no longer simply remain in the US for the duration of their program under the old D/S designation. When necessary, will have to seek an extension, instead, they will receive a fixed period of admission and.

Foreign media representatives are additionally covered by the change. The new rule replaces D/S admissions for the I classification with fixed periods and extra requirements rather than the previous open-ended duration-of-status arrangement.

Meanwhile, the administration notes the changes will provide greater oversight and allow DHS to determine more closely whether foreign students, exchange visitors and media representatives are maintaining their immigration status.

Meanwhile, the administration has additionally moved to provide USCIS officers greater discretion when deciding whether immigration benefit requests have established eligibility.

Earlier this month, USCIS remarked applicants and petitioners must provide the evidence needed to establish eligibility and reminded officers that they may deny certain benefit requests without first issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) in circumstances where the law does not provide a basis for approval or required initial evidence is missing.

That does not mean USCIS has eliminated RFEs or that every incomplete application will automatically be denied. The agency's existing policy still provides for RFEs in appropriate cases.

Taken together, the changes represent a significant shift in the administration's approach to legal immigration: greater scrutiny of financial circumstances for some green-card applicants, tighter monitoring of temporary immigration status and greater emphasis on applicants establishing eligibility with their initial filings.

For individuals preparing to apply for permanent residence from inside the US, even so, the immediate message from Wednesday's USCIS announcement is simple: if they file Form I-485 on or after September 18, they must employ the new edition of the form.

Anwar Iqbal is the Washington correspondent for Dawn. During a long journalism career, he has interviewed world leaders and cultural icons, including US Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, poets Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Josh Malihabadi, Bacha Khan, Nobel laureate Abdus Salam, and humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi.

Taken together, the developments around US further tightens immigration, student and media visa policies point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.