Dec 12, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Green cards become a little less treacherous

Felix Salmon

Illustration of a hand in a suit wielding a red pen with action lines surrounding it in the background — Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

The notorious Question 61 on the green card application form, about "the public charge ground of inadmissibility," has finally been fixed.

Why it matters: People filling out the new I-485 form are much less likely to inadvertently perjure themselves, which would open them to the possibility of harsh penalties.

Zoom in: The old form looked like it was asking whether you were inadmissible on the grounds that you were likely at some future point to become dependent on government assistance — a public charge.

But it wasn't, and the resulting confusion about how to answer put people at risk.

By the numbers: The new form is 24 pages (up from 20), and the instructions for filling it out are 42 pages (down from 44). The new form also incorporates what used to be a separate form, I-864W.

Question 61 — which took up two lines of the old form — is now a whole set of questions, from 56 to 66, which take up more than two pages.
Those questions, however, are much easier to answer.

The bottom line: The new form was supposed to arrive in fiscal 2023, and instead has now arrived in fiscal 2025. Still, better late than never!

Add Axios on Google

Green cards become a little less treacherous

What to read next