If you have been thinking about adjustment of status, and you woke up this past week to a worried text from a family member, a forwarded news article, or a question from your spouse about whether to keep going with your green card plans — you are not alone. We have heard from clients all week. The Law Office of Carrie Nguyen has been reading the new USCIS policy memo, analyzing the legal arguments around it, and talking through what it means for the families we serve across Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, and the broader DFW metroplex.
We want to give you a clear, honest answer to the question so many people are asking us right now: should I pursue adjustment of status now?
For most of the people who ask us, the answer is yes — but the answer comes with important context, because the rules of engagement just shifted.
What is adjustment of status?
Adjustment of status, often called AOS, is the process that allows certain immigrants already inside the United States to apply for a green card — lawful permanent residence — without leaving the country to interview at a U.S. consulate abroad. The main application is Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.
The most common adjustment of status applicants are:
- Spouses, parents, and children of U.S. citizens (immediate relatives)
- Other family members with current priority dates
- Employment-based applicants whose petitions have been approved
- VAWA self-petitioners and other humanitarian categories
- Special Immigrant Juvenile cases
For most of our clients, adjustment of status has long been the most protective way to obtain a green card. You stay with your family while you wait. You can apply for work authorization and a travel document. You attend your interview locally. The foundation of that path has not changed.
What changed is how USCIS officers have been instructed to look at your application.
What changed on May 21, 2026
On May 21, 2026, USCIS issued a new policy memo telling officers to treat adjustment of status as an exceptional benefit rather than a routine path to a green card.
What that means for applicants, in plain language:
- Officers have been told to look harder at every adjustment of status case.
- If you entered the United States on a visa and stayed past your original purpose, you will have to explain the reason why you stayed.
- Strong family ties and a clean record may not be enough on their own. You may need to show more.
This is a real shift, and we will not pretend otherwise. But it is just as important to understand what the memo does not do.
What the memo does NOT change
The law itself has not changed. Congress wrote the statute that creates the right to adjust status, and only Congress can change it. A policy memo is not a law. Many immigration attorneys believe this memo will be challenged in court, and there is a real possibility it will not survive in its current form.
The memo also does not change:
- H-1B and L-1 visa holders — they are expressly excluded.
- VAWA self-petitioners — their statutory protections still apply.
- Refugees, asylees, and certain humanitarian categories — Congress already decided these cases adjust as a matter of law.
- Pending adjustment applications — they have not been stopped. USCIS is still working through them.
The new directive only applies when consular processing abroad is a real option. For many of the families we serve in DFW, leaving the country for months of uncertainty is not a real option at all.
A note on scope: our firm focuses on all aspects of adjustment of status, family-based immigration, naturalization, employment-based green cards, humanitarian visas including U visas and VAWA, waivers, immigration court, and federal litigation. We do not handle asylum matters, and we will refer you to a trusted asylum attorney if that is what your case needs.
Why this is not the time to go pro se
We will say this carefully, and we will say it directly: this is not the time to go pro se.
For years, some applicants have filed Form I-485 on their own, especially in straightforward immediate-relative cases. Many of those applications have been approved without an attorney. We understand the appeal of saving on legal fees, especially when budgets are tight.
But the rules just changed. An adjustment of status application filed today is not the same kind of submission as one filed in April 2026. Officers have been told to look harder. They may issue a Request for Evidence (RFE) asking for a detailed personal narrative explaining why your case warrants a favorable exercise of discretion. They may weigh factors they previously treated as neutral. They may set a higher bar for the equities you bring.
Building a discretionary case is a craft. It requires understanding what officers are now reading for, how to frame a family’s story, how to document the real harms of removal or relocation, and how to preserve legal arguments for federal court review if anything goes wrong. Filing a thin packet today is filing into a much narrower opening than existed last month.
If your situation is more complicated — a prior entry without inspection, a visa overstay, any criminal history, a pending RFE or NOID — please do not file alone. A denial under this administration costs more than the filing fee. It costs months of uncertainty, the loss of work authorization, the potential for being placed in immigration court, and the difficulty of restarting from a worse position.
Who should be acting now
If you are reading this, you may already qualify under the law as it stands today. Your eligibility under INA §245(a) did not change on May 21. What changed is the lens. That means timing matters.
The applicants we are speaking with most urgently right now include:
- Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who have been planning to file but have not yet submitted Form I-485
- Adjustment cases tied to approved I-130 family petitions with current priority dates
- Employment-based adjustment applicants in non–dual-intent categories
- VAWA self-petitioners considering filing concurrently
- Families with adjustment applications already pending who may receive RFEs and need to prepare strong responses
- Anyone weighing a waiver-plus-adjustment strategy under the current rules
We also want to talk to you if your case has a complication that worries you. The earlier we understand your situation, the more options remain open.
What we are doing for our clients
For every active adjustment of status case in our office, we are reviewing the file against the new policy memo. Where a stronger discretionary record needs to be built, we are building it. For cases not yet filed, we are customizing every Form I-485 packet to the realities of this new environment — full personal narratives, complete supporting documentation, and a clear record preserved for federal court review if it ever comes to that.
Our 30/60/90-day accountability promise stands: we commit to meaningful case movement at every milestone, or we revisit your contract with you.
Our team is all female, immigrant-rooted, and bilingual. Carrie immigrated to the United States from Vietnam at age 10. That experience is not a tagline — it is the lens through which we read every case we take. Inmigrantes para inmigrantes. Immigrants for immigrants.
Our 279+ five-star Google reviews reflect what we promise our clients on day one and deliver every month after.
Your next step
The May 21 memo is a policy memorandum, not a change in the law. It can be challenged. It may not stand. But while it is in effect, every adjustment of status application filed in the United States is being read through a narrower lens. That is the reality our clients are living with right now.
If you have been thinking about your green card, if you have been preparing to file Form I-485, if your case is already pending and you are worried about an RFE, or if you simply want a clear-eyed conversation with an immigration attorney who handles every aspect of adjustment of status — we want to hear from you.
If you’re eligible, now is the time to talk to us — the law hasn’t changed — yet.
Call the Law Office of Carrie Nguyen at 817-330-9734, or book your consultation online. Our consultation fee is $150 and is credited toward your case if you retain us within 30 days. We will sit with you, review where your case stands, and tell you honestly what your best next step is.
You are not alone. We guide. We protect. We empower.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is adjustment of status?
Adjustment of status is the process of applying for a green card from inside the United States using Form I-485, instead of going through a U.S. consulate abroad. It is available to many family-based, employment-based, and humanitarian applicants who meet the eligibility requirements.
Does the May 21, 2026 USCIS memo stop me from filing Form I-485?
No. USCIS is still accepting and processing adjustment of status applications. The memo changes how officers review your case — not whether you can file.
Can I work while my I-485 is pending?
Yes. Adjustment of status applicants are eligible to apply for work authorization (Form I-765) and a travel document (Form I-131) while their I-485 is pending. We file these together with the adjustment application whenever possible.
Do I still need an attorney to file Form I-485 in 2026?
We strongly recommend it. The new policy memo raises the bar for the discretionary record you need to build, and a denial under the current environment is far more costly than it was even a few months ago. This is not the time to go pro se.
How do I get started?
Call the Law Office of Carrie Nguyen at 817-330-9734 or book a consultation through our website. We serve clients across Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, and the wider DFW metroplex.
