Overview
- Photos used for immigration documents must now be taken within three years of the date a USCIS form is filed.
- Self-submitted photographs are no longer accepted, with images to be captured by USCIS or other authorized entities.
- New photos are required for key applications including Forms I-90, I-485, N-400, and N-600 regardless of prior submissions.
- The agency frames the policy as a fraud-prevention and security measure that reverses COVID-19-era allowances to reuse photos for up to 10 years.
- USCIS published a Policy Alert and updated its Policy Manual, while some immigration attorneys noted that certain form instructions had not yet been updated.