USCIS’s New AOS Memo--Update
- Jun 1
- 2 min read
Sheridan Green
6/1/2026
I previously wrote that USCIS's new disruptive memo on adjustment of status would probably come to nothing. On Friday, the New York Times reported that an anonymous DHS official had told it, regarding the memo, "This was just a reminder to officers of their discretionary authority, which has always existed on a case-by-case basis.”
However, the Times article itself is confusing. First, the hopeful title of the article, “Actually, Most Immigrants Won’t Need to Leave U.S. to Get Green Cards,” never appears as a quote in the article itself. The DHS statement is not provided. And, as noted above, the statement was anonymous.
The quotes that appear in the article (“This was just a reminder to officers of their discretionary authority, which has always existed on a case-by-case basis”) are actually no different than the language that was in the May 21 memo itself. As I noted in my previous posting, USCIS requires this “discretionary” language in this type of memo because if they don’t include it, the memo looks like it’s announcing a new rule, and having not undergone legally required notice and comment procedures, a court could rule the new memo to be a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. So it’s odd that what’s actually in the text of the Times article says only what the original memo said.
On the other hand, I have now heard at least one report of a couple who got married and filed for adjustment shortly after entry on a B2 visa being asked memo-adjacent questions at an adjustment of status interview and then being approved the next day. And we haven’t heard of any denials yet. So the new “rule” may in fact already be coming to nothing.
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