New US visa rules: Old I-539, I-765 forms to be rejected from September 15, no grace period offered
USCIS to replace key immigration forms from September 15, with no grace period. Image credit: Wikimedia
New Delhi: The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that two of its immigration forms will be replaced with new editions from September 15. USCIS said there will be no grace period for the change, and applications filed with the older editions on or after that date will be rejected.
The change applies to form I-539, used to extend or change non-immigrant status, and form I-765, used to apply for employment authorisation, according to a notice on USCIS’s website. Both new editions are dated September 15.
The agency said the revised forms are needed to implement a final rule titled “Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Non-immigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media.”
The new editions will replace the current edition of form I-539, dated August 28, 2024, and the current edition of form I-765, dated August 21, 2025.
Form I-539 is used by H-1B visa holders, students and other non-immigrants to manage their immigration status while in the US. An H-1B worker does not use form I-539 to extend or change their own H-1B status, since the employer generally files Form I-129 for that purpose.
H-1B dependants, meaning H-4 spouses and children, can use Form I-539 to extend or change their own status.
Form I-765 is used to apply for work permission, commonly known as an Employment Authorization Document, or EAD. An H-1B worker generally does not use Form I-765 for their own work authorisation either.
Certain H-4 spouses, however, may use it to apply for an EAD if they meet the eligibility requirements.
USCIS said there is no grace period for the revised editions because they are necessary for the agency to apply the new rule. “Because there will be no grace period, USCIS is providing preview versions of the September 15, 2026 editions of Form I-539 and Form I-765 with their instructions,” the agency said.
“Do not file the September 15, 2026 editions of these forms before September 15, 2026,” it added.
USCIS laid out the exact filing rules for both forms. For Form I-539, the agency said it will accept the August 28, 2024 edition if it is postmarked or submitted electronically before September 15, 2026, and reject it if submitted on or after that date.
It will only accept the new September 15, 2026 edition of Form I-539 if it is postmarked or submitted on or after September 15, 2026.
The same rule applies to Form I-765. USCIS will accept the August 21, 2025 edition only if it is postmarked or submitted before September 15, 2026, and will reject it thereafter. The new edition will only be accepted from September 15, 2026, onward.
For now, applicants filing either form should continue using the current editions until September 14. From September 15, only the new editions dated that day will be accepted, and using the wrong version, in either direction, will result in rejection.
