Practice Alert: AILA Litigates USCIS Announcement of New Form Editions with No Grace Period for Prior Editions
UPDATE: In response to the litigation, on March 8, 2025, USCIS updated its forms webpage to reflect at least a one-month grace period for all of the forms issued in the past two weeks. The table below shows the date when the 1/20/25 edition of each form will be the only form edition accepted. Until the noted date, USCIS will accept the prior version of the relevant form.
USCIS has recently announced that it is requiring new editions of a number of forms effective immediately with no grace period for previous versions. For more information on the substantive changes that occurred, see Practice Alert: USCIS Changes Forms to Remove Gender Identity Questions and Reinstitute Use of “Alien”
After the new editions were announced, AILA sent multiple inquiries to USCIS requesting information about whether the agency would apply a grace period for the forms released on February 24, March 3, and March 4. Having not received a response from USCIS and in response to AILA members’ growing concerns, AILA and Benach Collopy LLP filed a lawsuit on March 7, 2025, seeking to compel USCIS to extend a reasonable grace period for form editions that expired without notice. The lawsuit seeks relief for all individuals/parties who filed the expired forms. Read the press release on the lawsuit for more information.
Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, USCIS responded to AILA inquiries with the following:
The USCIS forms website indicates the version of the form that must be submitted after we made changes to address some of President Trump’s recent Executive Orders. USCIS is generally required by the Paperwork Reduction Act to use the version of the form approved by the Office of Management and Budget as soon as it is approved. However, while no definite grace period is being provided, USCIS will exercise its discretion to not reject previous versions of forms that are submitted for a reasonable period after the new versions take effect.
[Emphasis added.]
AILA has also begun receiving reports from members that cases filed using the prior version of the forms after the new form effective were receipted by USCIS. We will continue to update AILA members on any future developments.
Practice Alert
You should always check the individual form pages on the USCIS website for the most up-to-date forms and filing information. USCIS also has a webpage that announces new form updates.
Updated editions for the following forms have been announced* since the Trump Administration took office on January 20, 2025:
*AILA is providing this document for informational purposes only. You should always check the individual form pages on the USCIS website for the most up-to-date forms and filing information.