USCIS has issued a policy memo confirming that adjustment of status — the process allowing eligible foreign nationals already in the United States to obtain permanent residence without leaving the country — is a discretionary benefit and not a guaranteed right, a shift that is expected to force many applicants currently within the US into consular processing abroad and disrupt employer immigration sponsorship programmes across multiple sectors.
The policy change, analysed by the Center for Immigration Studies on 5 June 2026, affects applicants under section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. In FY2023, 608,260 of the 1,172,910 total immigrant admissions — 52 percent — were adjustments of status rather than consular processing. The shift is expected to have its greatest impact on family-based applicants who overstayed visas, violated terms of admission or entered through parole programmes, but the employment implications are significant. In 2023 alone, 146,880 people adjusted status in employment categories, representing 75 percent of all employment-based lawful permanent resident admissions.
The USCIS memo indicates the agency may continue to exercise discretion in favour of applicants with meaningful employment or humanitarian circumstances, suggesting a case-by-case assessment rather than a blanket policy. However, the Center for Immigration Studies analysis by Senior Legal Fellow George Fishman concludes that the legal significance of the directive will depend entirely on implementation.
If denial rates rise substantially or applications are refused without meaningful adverse factors, litigation challenging those denials is likely — particularly given that courts have previously held USCIS discretion is not unlimited and is reviewable for abuse of discretion outside removal proceedings.
For UK law firms advising multinational employer clients on US immigration programmes, the memo signals an immediate need to review employee green card pipelines. Applicants who entered the US on temporary visas and have been progressing adjustment of status petitions may now face the prospect of consular processing abroad — a materially different experience involving travel, potential unlawful presence bars and consular officer discretion that does not apply in the adjustment process. Department of Homeland Security guidance on which applicant categories will be prioritised for discretionary adjustment has not yet been published.
In-house counsel at UK companies with significant US workforces and employment-based immigration sponsorship programmes — particularly those relying on H-1B, L-1 and O-1 visa holders progressing towards permanent residence — should be reviewing outstanding adjustment of status applications with their US immigration counsel immediately. The USCIS policy shift, combined with the broader restrictive immigration posture of the current administration, creates material workforce planning risk that legal teams will need to advise on through the remainder of 2026.