DOS Final Rule - Visas: Ineligibility Based on Public Charge

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 170 / Tuesday, September 5, 2023

"The Department of State (‘‘Department’’) has decided not to finalize the regulatory amendments made by the 2019 interim final rule entitled ‘‘Visas: Ineligibility Based on Public Charge Grounds’’ published in the Federal Register on October 11, 2019 (‘‘2019 IFR’’). The 2019 IFR implemented such amendments based on an intention to more closely align with the standards then applied by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (‘‘DHS’’) to determine inadmissibility on public charge grounds. In 2022, DHS published a new Final Rule (‘‘2022 DHS Final Rule’’). As such, the 2019 IFR no longer meets the policy aim of consistency with DHS standards. In declining to finalize the regulatory amendments made by the 2019 IFR, the Department will instead revert to regulatory text that was in place prior to the publication of the 2019 IFR and will continue to apply the guidance set out in the Foreign Affairs Manual (‘‘FAM’’). This regulatory text, together with the existing FAM guidance, more closely aligns with the current DHS standards, and the Department anticipates that it will subsequently initiate new notice-and-comment rulemaking in light of the 2022 DHS Final Rule. DATES: This final rule is effective October 5, 2023."