US Citizenship and Immigration Services now has the authority to stop accepting paper versions of some or all of the immigration forms it already accepts online, under an interim final rule the US Department of Homeland Security published on August 11, 2026. Seven weeks later, USCIS has not designated any form for mandatory electronic filing under the rule, and the rule sets out several steps that must be completed before it can.
The rule, published at 91 FR 51924 and signed by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, took effect the day it appeared. It allows USCIS to require electronic filing of any benefit request that has been available online for at least 180 days, after posting notice on its website at least 60 days before paper versions stop being accepted. Filers would then use a USCIS online account, either completing the form online or uploading a PDF of it.
Forms Eligible for a Mandate
As of December 16, 2025, USCIS offered 22 forms for online filing, all available for at least 180 days, according to the rule, which names no form for a mandate. Forms currently available in at least some electronic format include Forms I-129, I-130, I-140, I-765 and I-907, according to a summary by the law firm Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete. One form is already accepted only online: the agency’s online filing page states that USCIS “will reject any Form I-129H2A filed on paper.” Form I-129H2A is an online-only version of the H-2A agricultural worker petition, filed by PDF upload; employers filing an H-2A petition on paper must still use Form I-129.
Steps Required Before a Mandate
A mandate cannot begin until a new waiver form, Form I-936, Request for Waiver of E-Filing Requirement, clears federal review. DHS states that USCIS “will not require that any form be submitted only electronically” until it addresses public comments on that form, publishes a 30-day notice in the Federal Register and the Office of Management and Budget concludes its review.
A search of the Federal Register on September 28 found no 30-day notice for Form I-936. Attorney Asim Clinch of Clinch Law Firm wrote on September 23 that the firm had found no 60-day notice for any form, and estimated that the first mandatory date would not come before early 2027. Public comments on the rule are due October 13, 2026, under docket USCIS-2026-0232.
How the Waiver Would Work
A filer who cannot file online would need an approved Form I-936, granted at USCIS’ discretion on a showing of undue hardship, before submitting on paper. The request carries a $25 USD fee, which DHS says is meant in part to “potentially deter frivolous waiver filings.” Each request covers one benefit request and one person; DHS considered and rejected letting related filers, such as a parent and child, share one.
USCIS would weigh evidence such as geographic location, socioeconomic conditions and the availability of public technology resources. A requestor without personal internet access must explain why libraries, community centers, friends or family are not an option. The rule states: “Being unfamiliar with the USCIS e-filing system or not having an online account will generally not be enough to establish a requestor qualifies for a waiver.” DHS expects that requestors with legal representation and business entities will generally not qualify, though USCIS will evaluate each request case by case.
An approval is valid for 30 days, and USCIS must receive the paper filing within 33 calendar days of the approval notice’s issue date. A waiver request “will not effectively reserve a spot in line,” the rule states, and an approved waiver does not guarantee that the paper filing itself will be accepted.
DHS Rationale and Estimates
DHS skipped advance notice and comment, calling the rule procedural because requestors “do not possess a substantive right to file a paper form to request immigration benefits.” The department ties the change to Executive Order 14247, which directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, among other cabinet officials, to take appropriate action to eliminate the need for the US Department of the Treasury‘s physical lockbox services. In fiscal year 2025, about 43 percent of individual requestors filed online when the option was available, compared with less than 6 percent of attorneys and accredited representatives, according to the rule. USCIS already offers a $50 USD fee reduction for online filing, an incentive DHS says “has not meaningfully increased e-filing.”
DHS projects net savings to requestors of about $518 million USD a year over fiscal years 2027 through 2036 and expects 4 percent of affected requestors to seek a waiver. The rule states that a mandate “is not necessarily irreversible,” and that if one draws a large number of waiver requests or a sizable drop in filings, USCIS may consider whether additional action is needed.
“DHS recognizes that requestors who do not use the internet will be uniquely impacted by requiring the e-filing of benefit requests.”
— US Department of Homeland Security, Mandatory Electronic Filing interim final rule, 91 FR 51943
Guidance to Employers
In an August 13 analysis, Punam Singh Rogers, a partner at Constangy, wrote that nothing was changing immediately but that “employers should prepare for most employment-based filings—including Forms I-129, I-140, and I-907—to eventually become subject to the mandatory electronic filing requirement.” She noted that once a mandate applies, a paper filing submitted without an approved waiver may be rejected, which can matter most for petitions tied to a filing deadline or status expiration date.
(Photo: Image by Pexels from Pixabay)