September 2026 brings an unusually dense run of USCIS form-edition cutovers, and every one of them lands without the customary transition window. A form filed on the wrong edition after the cutover date is rejected outright, which for many applicants means losing a filing date rather than losing a form.
Already in effect — Form I-864 (Aug. 31, 2026). USCIS published a new 08/24/26 edition of Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, on Aug. 31. There is no grace period. The prior 10/17/24 edition will not be processed or accepted if postmarked or electronically submitted on or after Aug. 31, 2026. Forms I-864A and I-864EZ received new 08/24/26 editions on the same day.
Sept. 15, 2026 — Forms I-539 and I-765. USCIS will publish revised 09/15/26 editions of Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, and Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. They replace the 08/28/24 edition of I-539 and the 08/21/25 edition of I-765. USCIS has stated there is no grace period because the revised editions are what allow the agency to apply the new Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media final rule — the regulation ending duration-of-status admission for F, J and I nonimmigrants. The old editions are accepted if postmarked before Sept. 15 and rejected on or after.
Sept. 18, 2026 — Form I-485. USCIS will publish a revised 09/18/26 edition of Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, replacing the 01/20/25 edition. The revision aligns the form with the Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility final rule that takes effect the same day. Again, no grace period: the 01/20/25 edition is accepted if postmarked or electronically submitted before Sept. 18 and rejected on or after.
There is a symmetrical trap worth noting. USCIS has said explicitly, for each of these forms, not to file the new edition early. The 09/15/26 and 09/18/26 editions will only be accepted if postmarked or electronically submitted on or after their respective dates. So the window is exact on both sides — the old edition dies at midnight and the new one is not yet alive before it.
Because there is no grace period, USCIS has posted preview versions of the 09/15/26 I-539 and I-765 and the 09/18/26 I-485, with instructions, on the respective form webpages. Anyone preparing a filing that will go out in the second half of September should be drafting on the preview version now rather than completing the current edition and discovering in three weeks that it is dead paper.
The edition date appears at the bottom of every page of the form and its instructions. Before mailing or e-filing anything in September, check that date against the calendar — it is the single cheapest verification step in the entire process, and this month it is the one most likely to cost someone a rejected package.
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Source: USCIS Newsroom Alerts