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New Delhi: If you are dreaming of permanently settling in America or are planning to apply for a green card, then this news is very important for you. The government of US President Donald Trump has decided to make major changes in the rules to the Green Card. Under the new rule, now the financial condition of every applicant, his ability to bear his own expenses in future and the possibility of being dependent on government assistance will be deeply assessed. It is believed that this change may affect thousands of foreign citizens, especially Indian applicants.

The US government has issued the final rule to re-implement the rule to ‘public charge’. The purpose of this rule is to decide whether the person applying for a green card will not be dependent on government assistance in the future. Under this new system, every application will be evaluated separately. Immigration officers will look at how strong the applicant’s financial condition is and whether he will be able to manage his expenses on his own after living in the US permanently.

What does ‘public charge’ mean?

In US immigration law, a ‘public charge’ is a person who is suspected to be dependent primarily on government schemes and financial assistance for his living in the future. However, this does not mean that the application of anyone who has ever availed any government facility will be automatically rejected. The main objective of the authorities will be to assess how likely the person is to become dependent on government assistance in the future.

On what grounds will the investigation be conducted?

According to the new rule, the immigration officer will not look at just one or two aspects, but will evaluate the entire situation of the applicant. During this, many important things will be considered, such as-

age of applicant
health status
family responsibilities
Education and Qualification
professional skill
economic resources
possibility of getting employment
Ability to support oneself in the future

By taking all these aspects together it will be decided whether the applicant is eligible to get a green card or not.

Immigration officers will get more powers

The biggest change in this rule is believed to be that now immigration officers will have more discretion in taking decisions than before. The old rules had limited criteria for evaluation, but now officers will have the freedom to take decisions keeping in mind the overall circumstances of each application. That is, each case will be looked at differently and the final decision will be taken on the basis of all the facts.

When will the new rule come into effect?

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released this rule for public comment. It will be published in the Federal Register on July 20. If this is not banned by any court, then this rule will become effective 60 days after its publication i.e. from September 18.

Which people will be affected?

This new rule will mainly apply to those who are applying for permanent residency in America. This includes applicants who received green cards through ‘adjustment of status’ and who entered as immigrants. However, this change does not make any direct change in the existing visa rules for temporary visa holders like H-1B, F-1, L-1 and B-1/B-2.

What will be the impact on Indians?

This rule may also affect a large number of Indian citizens. Especially those people who are applying for a family-based green card or whose family members are already permanent residents in America. Apart from this, Indian professionals applying for employment based green card will also come under the purview of this new rule. A large number of Indians work in the US on H-1B visas and later apply for green cards through ‘Adjustment of Status’. In such cases, aspects to economic condition and self-reliance will now be examined in more detail than before.