Policy Update May 2026 · JBNP Law
If you're trying to get your green card from inside the U.S., the ground shifted under you this year. Two changes are behind it — one at the State Department, one at USCIS — and between them, adjusting status is no longer the safe default it used to be.
In January, the State Department stopped issuing immigrant visas at consulates for nationals of 75 countries, under Presidential Proclamation 10998. Around the same time, staffing cuts left the consulates that are still processing badly backed up. So finishing a green card abroad got slower for almost everyone — and for people from those 75 countries, it stopped being an option at all.
Then, on May 21, USCIS issued a memo that changed the other half of the equation. It says plainly that adjusting status inside the U.S. isn't something you're entitled to. It's discretionary — an "extraordinary act of administrative grace," in the agency's own words — and officers are now told to grant it sparingly rather than treat it as a stand-in for going through a consulate.
Meeting the legal requirements is now the starting point, not the finish line. You can check every box on eligibility and still be denied if the officer decides the equities don't justify approving the case here instead of abroad. They're told to look at the whole record — any overstays or unauthorized work, whether you kept to the terms of your visa, anything that looks like fraud or misrepresentation — alongside the good, like family ties and the life you've built here. What hurts most is anything that reads as ducking the consulate or refusing to leave when you were expected to.
Highest risk: people who've fallen out of status. If you came in on ESTA, the Visa Waiver Program, or a B-1/B-2 visitor visa and that status has since expired, you're squarely in the zone this memo is aimed at. Overstays and gaps in status are exactly the kind of negative factors officers are now told to weigh heavily.
Lower risk, but not automatic: H-1B and L-1 workers and their families. The memo does not take adjustment away from dual-intent workers, and in practice USCIS has signaled this isn't really aimed at people holding valid dual-intent status. If you've kept clean status, a straightforward case shouldn't be derailed. The catch is that valid status alone is no longer a guarantee — an old status gap, a late filing, unauthorized work, or an inconsistent statement to USCIS or a consulate can still pull you into discretionary scrutiny.
F-1/OPT, TN, and E-3 holders. These are "single-intent" categories, and if anything in the file suggests you meant to immigrate all along, expect harder questions.
Nationals of the 75 affected countries. You can end up caught in the middle — the consular route is frozen, and adjusting here is now a discretionary call.
For clients in valid dual-intent status with a clean record, we don't expect this to upend a straightforward green card case — but we've stopped treating eligibility as the whole story. We build the discretionary argument into every filing from the start: proof you've kept status, tax records, real ties here, a solid employment history. Where there's something in the background — an old overstay, a gap, unauthorized work — we deal with it head-on instead of hoping an officer doesn't notice.
The real concern is for anyone whose visitor or visa-waiver status has lapsed, and for nationals of the affected countries, where neither route is simple. One more practical point worth knowing: once you file an I-130 or I-140, you've put immigrant intent on the record, and that can complicate leaving and re-entering the U.S. — especially on ESTA or a B visa. We factor that travel risk in before anything gets filed.
USCIS hasn't said whether it will eventually narrow adjustment for particular categories, or exactly how it's handling cases already in the pipeline, though it's hinted more specific guidance is coming. We're watching closely and adjusting as it moves.
If you have an I-485 pending, or you're weighing whether to adjust here or go through a consulate, talk to us before you file. Book a consultation and we'll lay out the best route for your situation.
This post is general information, current as of when it was written — not legal advice, and no substitute for talking to an attorney about your own case. This area is changing quickly, and reading this doesn't make us your lawyers. Please get advice on your specific situation before you act.