Field Guidance on Deportability and Inadmissibility on Public Charge (March 26, 1999) [pdf]

The Department of Justice is publishing a proposed rule in this issue of the Federal Register which proposes to establish clear standards governing a determination that an alien is inadmissible or ineligible to adjust status, or has become deportable, on public charge grounds. Before the proposed rule becomes final, the Immigration and Naturalization Service is publishing its field guidance on public charge issues as an attachment to this notice. This will help alleviate public confusion over the meaning of the term “public charge” in immigration law and its relationship to the receipt of Federal, State, and local public benefits. This field guidance will provide aliens with better guidance as to the types of public benefits that will and will not be considered in public charge determination.