NEW YORK, NY, United States – October 24, 2026 – New York immigration law firm Berd & Klauss, PLLC is reminding green card applicants and their sponsors that two key USCIS forms have changed. Since September 18, 2026, USCIS accepts only the 09/18/26 edition of Form I-485, and since October 1, 2026, only the 08/24/26 edition of Form I-864. Packages filed on older editions risk being rejected.
Form I-485: new edition, no grace period
Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, is the main green card application for people already in the United States. USCIS revised it to align with the new public charge final rule. The 09/18/26 edition is now the only one accepted: USCIS rejects the 01/20/25 and 09/04/26 editions if they are postmarked or submitted online on or after September 18, 2026. There was no grace period.
Because the form reflects the new public charge rule, applicants should read the new instructions in full rather than copying answers from an older draft.
Form I-864: credit reports and sponsors
Form I-864, the Affidavit of Support, is signed by the sponsor in most family-based cases to show they can support the immigrant. USCIS published the 08/24/26 edition on August 31, 2026, accepted the old 10/17/24 edition for a 30-day grace period, and has accepted only the new edition since October 1, 2026.
The new edition includes a privacy release that authorizes USCIS to request information from one or more consumer reporting agencies. If a sponsor has a credit or security freeze, USCIS may not be able to access that information, so USCIS asks sponsors to respond promptly to any request to lift the freeze.
“Many couples prepare their package over several weeks, and some started before these changes,” said Patrick Klauss, Esq., an attorney at Berd & Klauss, PLLC. “The edition date at the bottom of each page now decides whether a filing is accepted. Before posting, check every page, and sponsors should expect that USCIS may look at their credit information.”
A pre-filing checklist
• Check that every page of Form I-485 shows 09/18/26 and every page of Form I-864 shows 08/24/26.
• Download forms directly from uscis.gov on the day you prepare the final package.
• Sponsors with a credit freeze should be ready to lift it if USCIS asks.
• Check the current filing address and fee on the USCIS form page before posting.
Berd & Klauss, PLLC helps families and employers across New York City with adjustment of status, consular processing and affidavits of support. Details are available on the firm’s green card lawyer New York page and its immigration attorney NYC homepage.


About Berd & Klauss, PLLC
Berd & Klauss, PLLC is a New York immigration law firm at 107 Greenwich Street in Lower Manhattan. Its attorneys, Patrick Klauss and Alex Berd, handle family and employment-based immigration, including O-1, H-1B, L-1 and E-2 visas, green cards, citizenship and naturalization, asylum, and deportation defense, for individuals and companies. Between them, the firm’s attorneys speak German, Italian, Russian, Hebrew and Ukrainian.