- by David M. Smitten
- 0
- Posted on
Adjustment of Status
On May 21, 2026, USCIS issued a Policy Memorandum (PM-602-0199) addressing the process of Adjustment of Status, which is the method whereby individuals with pending immigration applications can remain in the United States while those applications are adjudicated. In the Policy Memo, the department reminds agency personnel and well as the general public that “adjustment of status is an extraordinary matter of discretion and administrative grace not designed to supersede the regular consular processing of immigrant visas.” The agency now seems to be taking the position that the Adjustment of Status process, long used without significant issue by immigrants who would otherwise be subject to long processing times through applications to the US consulates in their native countries, is a discretionary one rather than one that can be consistently relied upon in immigration processing. In light of this memo, immigration applicants should carefully review the options for their processing with their immigration counsel, since under current immigration law, those who remain in the US for more than one year without legal status (and adjustment of status does not provide that status) are automatically subject to a 10-year ban to return to the country on an immigrant visa as soon as they leave the US. While that ban can be waived, it requires the demonstration of “extreme hardship and prejudice,” and given the language of the memo regarding “administrative grace,” we expect that demonstration may be more difficult to demonstrate than prior to the memo.