Program Details
2026-10-01 12:00:00
Over 1,000+ webinars
Course Overview
2026-10-01 12:00:00
2h CLE Credits
Intermediate
2
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm ESTThis session examines the DHS final rule rescinding the 2022 public charge regulations, effective September 18, 2026, and the resulting framework under INA § 212(a)(4). Attorneys will review the statutory totality-of-the-circumstances analysis, the five statutory factors, changes affecting the consideration of public benefits and Form I-864, and important transition rules. The session will focus on what the rule and USCIS guidance establish, what remains uncertain, and practical steps attorneys can take now to identify potential public charge concerns, counsel clients, and prepare adjustment filings.
Emily SumnerAshley Colón-Dziegielewski 1:10 pm - 2:10 pm ESTThis session translates the Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility final rule, 91 Fed. Reg. 45324 (July 20, 2026), into a working analysis for adjustment and consular caseloads on both sides of the September 18, 2026 effective date. Beginning with what the rule actually changes — the rescission of the 2022 regulation, the revised Form I-485, and the return of broad officer discretion under INA § 212(a)(4) — the session walks through the threshold question every practitioner must now answer first: whether the adjustment category is subject to public charge at all, now that DHS has removed the regulatory exemption list at 8 C.F.R. § 212.23 while the statutory exemptions survive. Attorneys will examine the trap of moving from an exempt to a non-exempt basis, the totality-of-the-circumstances factors USCIS will weigh, and the most consequential substantive shift: the far broader consideration of means-tested public benefits, including Medicaid and state health programs, subject to the critical transition rule that honors 2022-era limits for benefits received before September 18. The session then addresses benefits received by children and household members, why an adequate I-864 no longer resolves the inquiry on its own, and the revived public-charge bond process triggered by a Notice of Intent to Deny. It closes with the consular overlay — how the Department of State applies § 212(a)(4) to immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants under its own authority, including the select-case consular bond procedure. Attendees will leave with a date-driven client questionnaire, an exemption-screening framework, and an evidence checklist for building a record that withstands the new discretionary review.
Martha L. AriasEmily Sumner is the Founding Senior Partner of Sumner Immigration Law, PLLC in Richmond, Virginia, and has practiced immigration law exclusively throughout her career, guiding employers, professionals, and families through employment-based and family-based permanent residency from petition through adjustment of status. Her firm has been at the forefront of counseling green card applicants on the new public charge rule — including widely read guidance on whether to file before September 18 — making her ideally positioned to walk practitioners through protecting pending filings and assembling the financial documentation the new adjustment record requires.
Ashley Colón-Dziegielewski is a Senior Attorney at Sumner Immigration Law, PLLC, where she practices employment-based and family-based immigration and handles immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applications from petition through adjustment of status. She brings a distinctive background in asylum and humanitarian relief — including Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and U visas, categories at the heart of the new rule’s exemptions — giving her a dual command of the filings protected from public charge scrutiny and the adjustment cases that must now be documented under the post-September 18 framework.
Martha L. Arias is a Miami-based immigration attorney and founder of Arias Villa, PLLC, where she has practiced U.S. immigration law exclusively for more than two decades. Her practice spans the full landscape the new public charge rule touches — adjustment of status and green card petitions, family-based immigration, waivers of inadmissibility, humanitarian relief, and removal defense — giving her a front-line view of both the filings protected by the September 18 cutoff and the enhanced adjustment record USCIS will demand afterward.
Emily Sumner is the Founding Senior Partner of Sumner Immigration Law, PLLC in Richmond, Virginia, and has practiced immigration law exclusively throughout her career, guiding employers, professionals, and families through employment-based and family-based permanent residency from petition through adjustment of status. Her firm has been at the forefront of counseling green card applicants on the new public charge rule — including widely read guidance on whether to file before September 18 — making her ideally positioned to walk practitioners through protecting pending filings and assembling the financial documentation the new adjustment record requires.
Ashley Colón-Dziegielewski is a Senior Attorney at Sumner Immigration Law, PLLC, where she practices employment-based and family-based immigration and handles immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applications from petition through adjustment of status. She brings a distinctive background in asylum and humanitarian relief — including Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and U visas, categories at the heart of the new rule’s exemptions — giving her a dual command of the filings protected from public charge scrutiny and the adjustment cases that must now be documented under the post-September 18 framework.
Martha L. Arias is a Miami-based immigration attorney and founder of Arias Villa, PLLC, where she has practiced U.S. immigration law exclusively for more than two decades. Her practice spans the full landscape the new public charge rule touches — adjustment of status and green card petitions, family-based immigration, waivers of inadmissibility, humanitarian relief, and removal defense — giving her a front-line view of both the filings protected by the September 18 cutoff and the enhanced adjustment record USCIS will demand afterward.
Requirements
The Alabama State Bar MCLE Commission requires attorneys to complete 12 credits, including 1 ethics, by December 31 of each year. All credits must be reported by February 15 of the following year. A maximum of 12 credits, including 1 ethics credit, may be carried over for 1 year only.
Formats
