The Death of Adjustment of Status? New May 2026 USCIS Memo EXPOSED

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]If you enter the United States on a tourist visa, on ESTA, or any other non-immigrant visa, USCIS just released about a week ago a new memorandum policy that is changing the way people are filing for their green cards inside the United States. If you came here as a visitor and later married a US citizen, changing your status inside the United States to adjustment of status is going to become almost impossible or very, very difficult. Based on this memo, they're treating adjustment of status as extraordinary relief, which means that most people should be going to their home countries and applying for green cards from the US Embassy abroad. In fact, USCIS officers for the past week are already issuing request for evidence and asking very specific questions. Why did you want to do the adjustment of status inside the United States? These policies are hitting marriage-based green cards the most, specifically those people that came to the United States as visitors and later met somebody and got married and changed their status. This has been the case for the past 30 years.

[00:01:17]This recent policy is trying to change the rules of the game completely and in the process thousands of people are going to get affected. In this video, I'm going to tell you exactly what this memo means for you, who is impacted, what has changed and what is still the same, and how officers will be deciding cases right now. And the most important thing is, how can you make sure that not only your case will be approved, but also you'll come with the best evidence, bulletproof additional evidence that they want to see. So, no matter where you file, you'll be approved every single time from inside the United States.

[00:02:02]All the information in this one video.

[00:02:08]Hello, friends, and welcome back to Immigration Channel. My name is Jacob Sapochnick, and I'm an immigration attorney based in San Diego, California.

[00:02:16]I've helped clients all over the world in all 50 states, and in this video, I want to specifically focus on the new policy memo issued by USCIS last week, specifically saying that adjustment of status is now a privilege. Not every person should be qualified for that, and most people are required to leave the country and get their green cards at the US Embassy or consulate abroad. But, quite a few people are still going to be able to get it inside the United States, and we'll get to it in a second in this video. One of the biggest things that they're going to be looking for is preconceived immigrant intent. Let me explain to you what this is. When you applied for a tourist visa, or when you signed the document that gives you the ESTA privilege to come here, or when you come with a student visa, there are specific things that you state, that you sign on these forms, stating that you're not going to immigrate to the United States, but rather go back home at the end of your visit, your schooling, or whatever that you came here to do. In fact, most of these visas, tourist visas specifically, they assume, because you say that, that you're coming here for only a temporary period, and you're going to go back home.

[00:03:32]If USCIS or the State Department knew that that the time when your visa was issued that you're going to be changing your status inside the United States, getting married, doing anything, or getting an employer to sponsor you, you would have never received that tourist visa. USCIS believes that even though you said to them that you're coming here to be a tourism, you planned all along to come here and get married. And that's what we call preconceived immigrant intent. This new memo specifically states that if they determined that you had that intent, you're not going to get a green card inside the United States.

[00:04:12]This memo that we're linking in the description of this video specifically says that officers should be looking for these preconceived intent situations.

[00:04:22]And when they're looking at this, they're going to be saying, "Is adjustment of status the best option here, or could they have applied for consular processing on the first place?"

[00:04:33]Then they're looking at the timing of the marriage after you entered. Did you marry very fast, within the first 90 days, or after? And even after, what was your actual intention? And they're looking at any statements or any things that you mentioned online or offline that suggest that you never had the intention to leave. The memo specifically says that just because you came here and you didn't overstay, it still doesn't mean that your intention wasn't to stay here. So, you got to be careful. There's two things we're looking at. We're looking at whether somebody actually overstayed. That's already a bad factor uh towards later on fixing your paperwork. Or just people that had no violations, no overstay, but what was their intent originally when they first came to the United States. Now, let's talk about another section of the memo, which is totality of the circumstances.

[00:05:29]How do these officers evaluate totality of the circumstances when they're making a decision about your case?

[00:05:37]Before we talk about that, guys, if you're here for the first time and you're following my videos, randomly seeing my videos, but you're are a subscriber yet, please subscribe to my channel. Click the notification bell so you don't miss any of my videos.

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[00:05:56]If you need help with your immigration matters, the easiest thing to do is just send me a WhatsApp message. The number is right here on the screen. Send me a message. Let's book a call to speak about your case. Now, let's get back into the video. So, what is totality of the circumstances and how do officers what do they need to evaluate a case?

[00:06:16]Here are several factors that they are looking when they're making their decision. Number one, they're looking if you have any immigration violations or overstays. If you have overstays, it's going to be a negative factor for the officer to weigh in and make a decision if he will allow you to adjust status here or send you back home. Number two, fraud or misrepresentation. Was there any fraud or misrepresentation in your immigration history? If they think you tried to deceive the government, you're not staying and adjusting your status.

[00:06:47]Number three, is your conduct consistent with your original non-immigrant in status. So, if you came here as a tourist, did you actually do touristic stuff? Are you still doing it now? Or you just came with a pretext that you wanted to move to enter the United States and then you change to something else. Next, failure to leave when your authorized stay ended. So, when your I-94, you know, when you enter the United States, you can get the I-94 online.

[00:07:15]Usually as a tourist 6 months, maybe maybe as a student you get it for the duration of school. But let's say that this is done. It's over and you overstayed your I-94. This is also an adverse factor. And they're looking is was there clear intent on your side to circumvent the consular process. All these things are going to be weighing factor for the officer to make that decision. So, keep in mind those things because that's what they have on their list. What are some positive factors that you need to gather to be able to bring to the case? First of all, do you have family ties in US? Close family members, immediate family members that are important to justify your your ability to stay here. Maybe you have long-term lawful presence. You've been here student for many years, on a work visa for many years. You're not just somebody that came here a few months ago. This is also important factors when they weigh in. And finally, demonstrated benefit to the United States. What kind of skills do you have? What kind of education? Do you run a business? Do you manage a particular department that creates jobs? All these economic status contributions are going to come into effect when they're making a decision about your case. Remember that, the absence of adverse factors is not enough. You need have to have good equities to convince these officers.

[00:08:36]Next, let's talk about entering as a tourist or as a tourist to get married.

[00:08:41]Let's be honest, many many couples have done this before and probably will continue to do this. One comes on a tourist visa, spends some months here, eventually meets a person and they fall in love and they get married and then they file for their green card.

[00:08:57]This is typically what the the scenario is about. Some people do it faster, they meet and then within a few months they get married.

[00:09:04]And other people, they do it as soon as they enter the United States. These factors are going to play against you moving forward in 2026. Once again, guys, if you haven't filed that case and you're able to do it from the consulate, if you have a tourist visa right now, do it from the consulate right now. Because if you're going to try to wait and file it from inside immigration, you're going to be sucked into all these questions that they have right now about intent and what actually was your your true calling when you came to the United States. So, let's talk about 2026. How can you prove bona fide marriage? Bona fide marriage is still the same like before. Joint bank accounts, affidavits, leases, or ownership of property.

[00:09:50]Anything that you guys have together and pictures, that's what they want to see to be able to approve your main case.

[00:09:56]What are some of the positive discretionary things we're going to be putting into the package that we're going to be adding every single green card case moving forward. We want to show deep family ties in the United States. That's part of our separate package that we add to every single marriage case moving forward. They want to see length of residence and integration in the United States. They want to see good moral character letters just the same way you present to a citizenship file. Did you provide any economic contributions to the United States? And finally, there's going to be hardship to the US citizen spouse if you were to go back to the home country and be stuck there for several years.

[00:10:36]Remember, if you're coming here on a tourist visa or you already came on a tourist visa and you're filing those cases, be prepared for very, very complex interviews. In those interviews right now, they ask the following questions. Why did you apply for adjustment of status instead of consular processing? Why did you remain in the United States after your visa expired?

[00:10:56]What ties do you have in the home country? If you're not going to be able to answer those three key questions, you'll be in trouble. You need to make sure you understand those questions and be prepared to explain to the consular officer any discrepancies. So, how do we avoid an immediate I-45 adjustment of status denial?

[00:11:16]There are many things you can do and you must follow the exact guidance that we're giving you. Remember, these new policies are raising the bar.

[00:11:24]They're saying that not most most people are not qualified automatically for adjustment of status. So, what should you be doing now?

[00:11:32]Immediate action items is get your case reviewed by a professional attorney.

[00:11:37]Even get a second opinion. In fact, guys, we have developed a tool called AOS Risk Calculator. I'm linking the link below to the actual app. It's an It's an online app. It's It's a on the browser where you can log in and answer a few questions and then it it assesses your risk factor compared to other people, compared to what the government wants to see and based on that, you can share this report with an attorney and they can help make your case even stronger. Remember, guys, the law keeps changing all the time and we are monitoring it so you don't have to. So, remember, there's a new memo. It restricts the filing of adjustment of status. It has to be extraordinary circumstances and they have the discretion to make a decision whether you should get it or not.

[00:12:30]So, the most important thing is not to panic. You can still do it. You can still file in the United States. That hasn't been stopped, but you need to have these special circumstances package to bolster your case and make sure that once you file your regular forms, this parallel package comes in and now you're 100% golden. Any questions, guys? Drop them in the comments below. I hope all is well and I'll see you in our next video.