USCIS Policy Memo Attempts to Restrict and Reframe In-Country Green Card Applications as “Extraordinary Relief”

‍On May 21, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS) issued Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199 (“Policy Memo”) that purports to severely restrict the availability of the Congressionally created  Adjustment of Status (in-country green card application) (“AOS”) process by casting  AOS  as “extraordinary relief.”[1] For background, a noncitizen can apply for a green card either abroad at a U.S. consulate through the immigrant visa process or within the U.S. through the filing of an application to adjust status to permanent residency. The Policy Memo, cloaked  as a reminder to  USCIS officers, represents a departure from over 50 years of practice and ignores numerous statutory updates to the AOS process, some dating back to 1960, which makes clear that Congress views AOS and consular processing as neutral alternative methods to securing permanent residence status.

The Policy Memo claims, without citation, that “Congress expects aliens paroled into the United States or admitted into the United States as nonimmigrants to depart rather than pursue adjustment of status.”  Based on the unsupported supposition that the statute prefers immigrant visa processing over AOS, USCIS now considers approval of an AOS  application as an “extraordinary” act.  Indeed, courts and immigration authorities have long held that there is nothing untoward or inherently dishonorable for a noncitizen to apply for adjustment of status if otherwise eligible. Brownell v. Carija, 254 F.2d 78 (DC Cir 1957). See also, Matter of Hosseinpour, 15 I&N Dec 191 (BIA 1975) 

The Policy Memo is of questionable legality because it establishes new rules without following proper procedure, ignores long-established precedent guiding the exercise of  discretion in the AOS process, and contravenes  the detailed  AOS statutory structure enacted by Congress. USCIS frames the Policy Memo as a restatement of law but the directive instructs officers to consider the very act of applying for AOS as an adverse factor--a new policy that has no basis in statute,  regulations, or history. As courts have reminded the immigration service in the past,  “[t]he mere fact that a statute gives the [agency] discretion as to whether to grant relief after application does not by itself give the [agency] the discretion to define eligibility for such relief.” Succar v. Ashcroft, 394 F.3d 8, 10 (1st Cir. 2005).  Furthermore, the Policy Memo would likely fail even if USCIS followed the APA. The APA requires administrative agencies to pass regulations that are consistent with Congress’s intent, as evidenced by statutes and the congressional record. Contrary to USCIS’s assertions, the AOS statutory framework  firmly establishes that Congress intended AOS to be generally available to nonimmigrants who are otherwise eligible to become permanent residents. In other words, AOS is not  a “loophole” to allow noncitizens to evade consular processing but rather an established component of American immigration law that Congress carefully crafted and revised over several decades.[2] ‍

USCIS’s news release announcing the Policy Memo further confuses matters by announcing that  “[f]rom now on, [a noncitizen] who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances.”   Nowhere in the Policy Memo does it provide that AOS would only be approved in extraordinary circumstances.  Rather the memo juxtaposes AOS with what it believes is the ordinary process (consular processing).

Despite the Policy Memo’s legal shortcomings, the immigration bar does not yet know how USCIS officers will  execute this new policy and what specific factors USCIS will use when determining whether someone meets the “extraordinary circumstances” standard set out in the press release. The new policy could force several hundred thousand nonimmigrants to apply for their green cards abroad annually, which would severely disrupt American families, key industries, and educational opportunities across the United States, in addition to the burden it places on noncitizen applicants. The policy would additionally exponentially strain the already-taxed immigrant visa processing backlog at our U.S. consulates.

In summary, the Policy Memo does not preclude individuals from filing for Adjustment of Status. However, applicants will likely face additional hurdles including Requests for Evidence on their applications. We have received early reports that USCIS field offices are enforcing the Policy Memo during adjustment of status interviews, which is typically the final step for applicants before their applications are approved or denied. It has been reported that USCIS officers have asked applicants questions such as -

• Why did you apply for AOS instead of consular processing?

• Are there any factors that would prevent you from pursuing consular processing?

• Why did you decide not to return to your country when your period of authorized stay expired?

In the Policy Memo USCIS indicated that it may provide additional guidance on specific types of AOS applications and “discrete populations…to aid officers in identifying  those applications that may or may not warrant this act of grace...” 

We will provide updates on this Policy Memo as they become available. 

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[1] U.S. Citizenship & Immigr. Serv., PM-602-0199, Adjustment of Status is a Matter of Discretion and Administrative Grace, and an Extraordinary Relief that Permits Applicants to Dispense with the Ordinary Consular Visa Process (2026).

[2] Except for fiscal years 2020 and 2021, DHS statistics show that since fiscal year 2016 roughly the same number of individuals receive green cards through the AOS process as through consular processing.