Changes in the law, and what we track
This page is short on purpose. We list a change only when we can tie it to a statute, a regulation, a Federal Register notice or a published decision, and we update the affected pages when we do. If you read about a change elsewhere that is not here, we have not confirmed it in a primary source yet.
Current as of October 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any change in the law.
What we track
- The Immigration and Nationality Act, at uscode.house.gov, including 8 U.S.C. 1154 (the self-petition) and 8 U.S.C. 1367 (confidentiality).
- The regulations at 8 C.F.R. 204.2, read with care: parts of it predate later amendments by Congress.
- The USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 3, Part D, and USCIS form pages.
- The Federal Register, for fee rules and new regulations.
- Published decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals and the federal courts of appeals. See real cases.
When something changes, we update the pages it affects and move their "current as of" date forward. When we see a reported change we cannot confirm in a primary source, we do not post it. Nothing here is legal advice about your case. If a change may touch your situation, call (718) 484-7510.
Dated changes this site relies on
Newest first.
October 16, 2026: new edition of the USCIS fee schedule
The edition of Form G-1055 dated October 16, 2026 lists, among others: the Form I-751 government filing fee of $750 on paper or $700 online, and $0 for a waiver of the joint filing requirement based on battery or extreme cruelty; and the Form N-400 government filing fee of $760 on paper or $710 online, $380 (paper only) at or below 400% of the federal poverty guidelines. The VAWA I-360 still has no fee. See fees, the I-751 waiver and citizenship after VAWA.
October 7, 2026: new VAWA filing addresses
USCIS changed the VAWA filing location on October 7, 2026, with a grace period for packages postmarked on or before November 9, 2026. VAWA I-360s go to a USCIS lockbox chosen by the state you live in; New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania go to Chicago, and Florida goes to Phoenix. Check the VAWA, T and U filing locations page and the I-360 form page. We do not reprint the address.
August 13, 2026: advance parole and the unlawful-presence bars
The Board of Immigration Appeals decided Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, 29 I&N Dec. 830 (BIA 2026), overruling Matter of Arrabally. USCIS's Form I-131 page now warns that leaving on advance parole is a departure under INA 212(a)(9)(B)(i), so a person with more than 180 days of unlawful presence may be inadmissible on return. See travel and advance parole.
August 11, 2026: e-filing rule
An interim final rule (91 FR 51924) set a $25 government filing fee for Form I-936, the request to waive electronic filing (8 C.F.R. 106.2(a)(64)). For VAWA filers that fee may be waived (8 C.F.R. 106.3(a)(3)(ii)(H)). As of October 26, 2026 the I-360 page still describes mail filing.
February 1, 2026: new government fees in immigration court
For filings postmarked on or after February 1, 2026, Form EOIR-42B, the application used for VAWA cancellation of removal, carries a government filing fee of $1,640 ($100 to EOIR plus $1,540 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act), plus a $30 biometrics fee, under 91 FR 2561 and the EOIR Forms and Fees page. These are government fees, not legal fees. We have not confirmed how the new court-side fees apply to a VAWA applicant's green card application in court, so we do not print that figure. See VAWA cancellation.
December 22, 2025: USCIS rewrites its VAWA policy
On December 22, 2025, USCIS rewrote its VAWA policy in the Policy Manual, Volume 3, Part D (Policy Alert PA-2025-33). It requires that the self-petitioner resided with the abuser during the qualifying relationship, and primary evidence of a good-faith marriage where available. It applies to pending and new filings. See living with the abuser and good-faith marriage.
The same day, USCIS issued PA-2025-34 on 8 U.S.C. 1367. It says USCIS applies the rule against decisions based solely on the abuser's information only to admissibility and deportability determinations, not to denials of an I-360, I-751 or I-765V, and that 1367 protection ends at naturalization. See confidentiality.
January 31, 2024: fee rule exempts VAWA self-petitioners
Under 8 C.F.R. 106.3(b)(6) (89 FR 6194), as of October 2026, VAWA self-petitioners and their derivatives pay no government filing fee for Forms I-131, I-212, I-290B (in limited cases), I-485, I-601, I-601A, I-765 (for the listed categories) and I-824. The VAWA I-360 itself has no fee (8 C.F.R. 106.2(a)(17)(ii)). See fees.
2005: abused parents of adult citizens added
The Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005, Pub. L. 109-162, added INA 204(a)(1)(A)(vii): an abused parent of a U.S. citizen son or daughter who is at least 21 may self-petition. See abused parent.
2000: extreme hardship removed from the self-petition
The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, Pub. L. 106-386, removed extreme hardship as an element of the self-petition.
The regulation was never updated
8 C.F.R. 204.2(c)(1)(i)(G) still prints extreme hardship as a self-petition element. That text is superseded by the 2000 statute, and this site never lists it as a requirement for the self-petition. VAWA cancellation in immigration court is different: it does require extreme hardship, under INA 240A(b)(2).
What we will not post
- Processing times. USCIS posts its own at uscis.gov/processing-times.
- Approval rates or numbers of cases.
- Visa Bulletin dates. Check the Visa Bulletin itself.
- Reported policy changes we have not found in a primary source.
Read next: the VAWA self-petition, real cases, the glossary, or confidentiality.
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