Washington, DC, May 18, 2026 — The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin enforcing a stricter signature policy on immigration filings starting July 10, 2026, a move immigration attorneys say could have serious consequences for applicants, including denials of petitions and loss of filing fees over improper signatures.
Under a new Interim Final Rule published in the Federal Register, USCIS officers will have the authority to deny immigration applications and petitions if they determine that the signatures on the forms are invalid — even after the filings have already been accepted and entered into processing.
Previously, applications with signature issues were often rejected during the intake stage, allowing applicants to correct the error and refile. Under the new policy, however, USCIS can deny a petition during adjudication without providing an opportunity to fix the problem, forcing applicants to submit an entirely new filing along with new fees.
The change is expected to have significant implications for employment-based immigration categories heavily used by Indian professionals, including H-1B petitions and PERM-backed I-140 filings, where strict deadlines and annual caps leave little room for error.
According to the new guidance, applicants whose cases are denied due to invalid signatures during adjudication will not receive refunds of their filing fees. USCIS said filing fees would only be returned if a case is rejected during the initial intake process.
Immigration attorneys warn that the policy could create severe risks for applicants working within limited filing windows.
“For petitions tied to statutory deadlines or lottery-based systems, a denial months later could mean losing the opportunity entirely for that fiscal year,” legal analysts noted in summaries circulating among immigration law firms after the rule was announced.
USCIS said the stricter enforcement is intended to address increasing misuse of electronic and copied signatures in paper-filed applications.
Under the policy, the agency will consider several types of signatures invalid on paper filings, including software-generated electronic signatures such as DocuSign or Adobe Sign, copied-and-pasted signature images, typed names in place of handwritten signatures, signature stamps, and signatures made by unauthorized individuals such as attorneys, preparers, or translators without proper legal authorization.
The agency clarified that traditional handwritten “wet-ink” signatures remain the standard for paper filings. Applicants may still submit scanned, faxed, or photocopied versions of documents containing original handwritten signatures, and individuals unable to write may continue using a handwritten “X” or thumbprint.
Digital signatures will only be accepted for applications submitted directly through authorized USCIS online filing portals.
Immigration attorneys are advising applicants and employers to carefully review all immigration forms before filing to ensure compliance with the updated rule, particularly in high-stakes employment and family-based immigration cases.
The policy change comes amid broader efforts by federal immigration agencies to tighten procedural compliance and crack down on fraud in the immigration system.
