USCIS just issued a new policy memo increasing USCIS RFEs and I-485 denials by emphasizing that adjustment of status is a discretionary benefit — not an automatic right.
What does this mean in practical terms?
Expect:
• more RFEs,
• more NOIDs,
• more scrutiny of status violations and immigrant intent,
• and potentially more discretionary denials even for technically eligible applicants.
USCIS is signaling that officers should closely examine:
• overstays,
• unauthorized employment,
• conduct inconsistent with visa status,
• and whether someone used adjustment of status instead of consular processing abroad.
While adjustment of status has always technically been discretionary under the law, this memo feels different in tone and direction. In our view, USCIS is laying the groundwork for a much tougher discretionary adjudication environment moving forward.
One of the biggest implications may not be the memo itself — but how USCIS intends to use it later.
The memo repeatedly emphasizes words like:
• “administrative grace,”
• “extraordinary relief,”
• and “discretion.”
That matters because recent court decisions, especially Patel v. Garland, significantly limited how much federal courts can review discretionary immigration decisions. In practical terms, USCIS may now feel more empowered to deny cases based on discretionary concerns that are harder to challenge later in court.
This could especially affect:
• B-1/B-2 to green card cases,
• applicants with prior overstays,
• applicants with unauthorized employment,
• parole-based adjustment cases,
• and applicants whose conduct after entry may appear inconsistent with the original purpose of their visa.
Importantly, the law itself has NOT changed.
Many important protections still exist, including:
• immediate relative protections,
• INA 245(k),
• INA 245(i),
• VAWA protections,
• and dual intent categories such as H-1B and L-1.
However, we do expect officers to apply much more aggressive discretionary review moving forward.
Our concern is that many applicants still treat adjustment of status as a “simple paperwork filing.” It is not.
A poorly prepared I-485 package can create:
• unnecessary RFEs,
• fraud or immigrant intent concerns,
• inconsistent statements,
• evidentiary gaps,
• or discretionary problems that become much harder to fix later.
This is not the time to prepare your I-485 petition on your own.
Strategic legal presentation matters now more than ever:
• how the facts are framed,
• how discretionary equities are presented,
• how prior immigration history is explained,
• and how potential concerns are proactively addressed before USCIS raises them.
At The Law Office of Zhang, we closely monitor USCIS policy developments and prepare strategically organized adjustment filings designed to minimize risks and proactively address discretionary concerns before they become RFEs, NOIDs, or denials.