Revision History

The Trump administration issued a policy memo on May 21, 2026 recharacterizing adjustment of status — the decades-old process allowing foreign nationals already in the US to apply for green cards without leaving — as "extraordinary" discretionary relief. The move could force roughly 600,000 people per year to depart the country to apply through consular processing abroad, with immigration attorneys warning that many applicants, particularly those from high-backlog countries like India, risk triggering reentry bars or being stranded at overburdened consulates.