USCIS restricts adjustment of status to extraordinary circumstances
Adjustment applicants must generally use consular processing unless extraordinary circumstances apply
Change
On 2026-05-22, USCIS issued a policy memo directing officers to grant adjustment of status only in extraordinary circumstances.
Why it matters
The memo changes the default filing route for many nonimmigrants seeking permanent residence. Applicants and immigration counsel must treat in-country adjustment as an extraordinary-relief path and prepare consular processing unless the case supports a documented extraordinary-circumstance basis.
Implications
- — Adjustment-of-status applicants must prepare for consular processing outside the United States unless extraordinary circumstances apply — USCIS said adjustment should be granted only as an extraordinary form of relief.
- — Immigration counsel must document the case-specific extraordinary-circumstance basis before pursuing adjustment of status — USCIS officers are directed to consider all relevant factors and information case by case.
- — Students, temporary workers and visitors seeking permanent residence must not treat temporary admission as the ordinary first step toward in-country green-card processing — USCIS stated that temporary stay should not ordinarily function as the first step in the green-card process.
Who is affected
- — Adjustment-of-status applicants in the United States
- — Immigration counsel advising nonimmigrants seeking permanent residence
- — Students, temporary workers and visitors seeking green cards
- — USCIS officers adjudicating adjustment-of-status requests