Green Card Applications Face Being Denied Over Trump Admin Rule Change

A new Trump administration rule could allow U.S. officials to deny green card applications months after they are filed and accepted over invalid or missing signatures on immigration forms.

The measure, published in the Federal Register on May 11 and set to take effect on July 10, gives the immigration benefits agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), explicit authority to reject or deny immigration benefit requests if the agency later determines that they lack a valid signature.

The interim final rule marks a shift in how officials handle technical filing errors. Previously, applications with signature deficiencies were typically rejected at intake and returned to applicants for correction. Under the new regulation, however, USCIS can accept a filing, process it, and later deny the case if a defect is identified during adjudication.

A denial carries greater consequences than a rejection. While rejected applications are returned without adjudication and can be corrected and resubmitted, a denied case is treated as fully adjudicated, with USCIS retaining the filing fee and requiring applicants to file a new petition without an opportunity to correct the signature error.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees USCIS, said the rule is intended to clarify procedures and strengthen enforcement of signature requirements across the immigration system.

Newsweek reached out to USCIS via email for comment.

“The culture has shifted from an officer corps that was trying to get the right benefit to the right person in the right amount of time to one that seems to want to just focus on not giving benefits,” Adam Klein, a former senior DHS official, told Newsweek.

“For many applicants and employers, a denial can mean restarting the process entirely, with potential downstream consequences including gaps in work authorization or falling out of status.”

The policy applies broadly to immigration benefit requests, including green card applications, work authorization requests, and visa petitions.

The Trump administration has moved to tighten legal immigration pathways, increasing costs and making it harder to obtain green cards and other visas as part of a major overhaul of the U.S. immigration system.

While not limited to any single category, it could have particular implications for adjustment-of-status applicants and employment-based filings, which often involve multiple forms and signatories.

Federal officials said the change comes amid concerns over improper or fraudulent signatures in immigration filings, with the rule aimed at standardizing how officers handle cases involving deficient or questionable signatures.

“All of these types of invalid signatures raise concerns about the integrity of the request, including falsification, fraud, or the submission of requests on an individual’s behalf without their knowledge or consent,” USCIS wrote.

Under the updated policy, adjudicators have discretion to either reject a filing outright or deny it after acceptance, depending on when the issue is identified and the case’s circumstances.

Klein said that denied green card applicants could lose both time and their place in the queue.

"If your benefit is denied, then…you are not in line to receive that status. Applicants have to get to the back of the line again and start waiting all over again,” Klein told Newsweek.

Klein also warned that some applicants could face legal risks if their cases are denied before their status is resolved. "They may fall out of status before their adjustment is adjudicated," he said.

Klein said the changes could also lead to more denials in practice, given the expanded discretion granted to officers.

“It would probably produce more denials because if they have the power to deny, I think they were brought in almost with the intent to use that power.

While he said stricter enforcement could help address concerns about improper filings, Klein warned the impact may fall unevenly. Applicants with fewer resources or without legal guidance may be more vulnerable to errors that lead to denials.

“From a compliance perspective, applicants, employers, and attorneys will likely need to implement even more rigorous quality-control procedures around signatures, form versions, and filing review before submission,” Klein said.

However, Morgan Bailey, a partner at Mayer Brown and a former senior official at DHS, told Newsweek that “in some ways, the rule is welcome because it provides clearer regulatory notice about USCIS's position on signature defects.”

“The concern is not clarity itself; the concern is how the agency will use that authority,” Bailey said. “If USCIS applies the rule to address genuinely invalid signatures, it may create more consistency. However, if it becomes a basis for denying otherwise approvable cases over technical or curable signature issues, the practical consequences could be significant.”

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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 12:02 PM.