USCIS allows 30-day grace period for older immigration forms, outdated green card applications after lawsuit challenge

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is giving people an extra month to use older versions of some immigration forms, like green card applications. This is because they were sued for suddenly requiring new versions of the forms without giving people a warning or enough time to adjust.

According to Bloomberg Law, USCIS will accept previous editions of the affected forms for 30 days from the release date of the new versions. This applies to forms such as Form I-485 (green card applications) and Form N-400 (naturalization applications).

The agency introduced new editions dated January 20, 2025, but when they were made available in late February and early March, no transition period was provided. This led to confusion as applicants and attorneys unknowingly submitted outdated versions.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association and Benach Collopy LLP sued USCIS in a federal court in Washington, D.C., arguing that the sudden enforcement of new forms without a grace period unfairly impacted applicants.

In response, USCIS confirmed that while the updated forms will become mandatory in late March and early April, older versions will still be accepted during the 30-day transition period.

Among the updates in the revised forms are terminology changes—replacing "noncitizen" with "alien"—and a limitation of gender options to "male" and "female." These modifications align with policies introduced during the Trump administration.

The grace period applies to forms released on February 24, March 3, and March 4. After the deadline, only the newly issued versions will be accepted.