The Trump administration has given immigrants and their lawyers more time to use new
forms after a sudden change last week threatened to derail applications.

At least nine immigration forms were updated to align with President Trump's executive
orders, but without giving people the usual transition time to adapt. After lawyers filed a
lawsuit on Friday, March 7, officials backtracked and implemented this grace period.

USCIS has not yet provided further comment on the situation as of Monday afternoon.

Why It Matters

These form changes affected people applying for permanent residency and citizenship,
potentially impacting thousands of immigrants who submitted applications just before
March 3, when the new forms were supposed to take effect. Using outdated forms could
lead to delays or even rejection of applications.

What To Know

As reported last Tuesday, immigration attorneys were confused by these suddenly updated
forms (dated January 20, 2025) because they had no warning to prepare their clients.

The forms had minor changes reflecting Trump's executive orders signed after his
inauguration. These included only recognizing male and female genders as assigned at birth
and using the term "alien" instead of the Biden-era "noncitizen" or "foreign nationals."

Lawyers said USCIS was creating "administrative chaos," while the agency claimed
applicants were responsible for using the correct forms.

The affected forms included:

· I-485 Adjustment of Status for permanent residency applicants

· I-485 Supplement A for additional information

· I-485 Supplement J for job confirmation

· I-134 Declaration of financial support

· I-192 Application for advanced permission to enter

· G-325A Biographic information

· I-918 Petition for U nonimmigrant status

· I-131 Application for travel documents

· N-400 Application for naturalization (citizenship)

On Friday, March 7, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and Benach Collopy
filed a lawsuit in DC federal court after USCIS gave no indication of offering a grace period.

By Saturday, March 8, all nine form pages were updated with new grace periods of 30 days
or more, extending the deadline to use the new forms until at least early April.

What People Are Saying

Jennifer Coberly, benefits litigation attorney at AILA, told Newsweek: "It's not a
coincidence that USCIS updated its website with 30-day or longer grace periods within 24
hours of us filing our complaint about their shocking failure to provide a transition period
for multiple immigration forms. We're continuing to monitor USCIS's compliance with
Administrative Procedure Act notice requirements as they update forms. We're optimistic
the litigation will be resolved soon."

What's Next

USCIS has stated on its website that applicants can use either the old or updated forms
until the specific new grace periods end.

For more information, please visit www.uscis.gov.