The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services published an interim final rule titled “Signatures on Immigration Benefit Requests” in the Federal Register on May 11, 2026. The rule takes effect July 10, 2026, and that same date is also the final deadline for public comment submissions under docket number USCIS-2026-0166.
Under the update, USCIS adjudicators are given explicit regulatory authority to deny immigration benefit requests when an invalid signature is discovered after the filing has been accepted for processing. This is distinct from an initial intake rejection, where fees are returned and the applicant can refile, because a post-acceptance denial means USCIS retains the filing fee.