Overview
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued an interim final rule that lets officers reject or deny filings with invalid signatures for requests submitted on or after July 10, 2026.
- A denial keeps the filing fee and forces a new filing, while a rejection returns the package and fee and does not save the original filing date.
- USCIS will not let applicants fix a bad signature after filing, and officers may use requests for evidence only to confirm who had authority to sign.
- Invalid signatures include typed names, stamps, pasted or copied images, software‑generated marks, or signatures by someone not authorized; a scanned copy of an original wet‑ink signature is acceptable.
- For myUSCIS e‑filing, a secure electronic signature created in the system is valid, while attorney PDF uploads still require a scanned document that was originally signed in ink.