State Department reverts visa public charge regulations from 2019 IFR

Validated finding · five-country-2010-20260922-v118-evidence-presentation-fix

CountryUnited States

Operative dateOctober 5, 2023

CategoryFamily, residence, visitor, study, work, other

Policy toolEligibility

Affected groupNew applicants

Policy effect

The State Department declined to finalize the 2019 visa public charge interim final rule and reverted to prior regulatory text while continuing to apply Foreign Affairs Manual guidance.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of State 22 CFR Part 40 [Public Notice: 11921] RIN 1400-AE87 ( printed page 60574) AGENCY: Department of State. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Department of State (“Department”) has decided not to finalize the regulatory amendments made by the 2019 interim final rule entitled “Visas: Ineligibility Based on Public Charge Grounds” published in the Federal Register on October 11, 2019 (“2019 IFR”). The 2019 IFR implemented such amendments based on an intention to more closely align with the standards then applied by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to determine inadmissibility on public charge grounds. In 2022, DHS published a new Final Rule (“2022 DHS Final Rule”). As such, the 2019 IFR no longer meets the policy aim of consistency with DHS standards. In declining to finalize the regulatory amendments made by the 2019 IFR, the Department will instead revert to regulatory text that was in place prior to the publication of the 2019 IFR and will continue to apply the guidance set out in the Foreign Affairs Manual (“FAM”). This regulatory text, together … and (2) if so, what final rule should be adopted regarding visa ineligibility on public charge grounds. As detailed below, following receipt of a range of public comments in response to the 2019 IFR and the 2021 Public Comment Reopening, the Department has decided not to finalize the regulatory amendments made by the 2019 IFR. Instead, the Department is removing from 22 CFR 40.41 the regulations promulgated in the 2019 IFR and restoring the regulatory text as it appeared prior to the issuance of the 2019 IFR (“Prior Rule”).[14] The Prior Rule was published in 1997, and, with non-substantive changes … the public charge ground of inadmissibility that existed prior to the 2019 IFR, this final rule removes the amendments to the regulation made by the 2019 IFR and restores the regulatory text of the Prior Rule. The Department finds, following its review of the public comments and the changes in circumstances following publication of the 2019 IFR, that the Department's policy of ensuring consistency with DHS no longer supports the 2019 IFR and that the Department should conduct further notice-and-comment rulemaking in light of the 2022 DHS Final Rule. The Public Comment Reopening solicited comments …

Federal Register 88 FR 60578Federal Register 88 FR 60578. State Department reverts visa public charge regulations from 2019 IFR. Effective 2023-10-05.Open official source

Retrieved from https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/09/05/2023-19047/visas-ineligibility-based-on-public-charge

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

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State Department reverts visa public charge regulations from 2019 IFR

Policy effect

Official source excerpt

Review method

Other United States changes operative in 2023