The Context

Why Does This Matter Right Now?

Everything changed with a memo USCIS published on May 21, 2026, PM-602-0199, and with a Supreme Court decision that’s already a couple of years old, Department of State v. Muñoz. Together, the two reshaped the entire landscape of family-based immigration.

Source: USCIS; U.S. Supreme Court.

The Risk

What Happens If You Choose Wrong?

If you choose Adjustment of Status without properly preparing your case, a USCIS officer can deny your green card based on factors that used to barely register.

And yes, you heard that right: today there’s almost no appeal if the consul says no.

According to the American Immigration Council, thousands of people who would already qualify for a green card never adjust their status, precisely out of fear of those three- and ten-year bars.

Source: American Immigration Council.

The Advantage

What Adjustment of Status Gives You While You Wait

You could apply for a work permit (EAD) and a travel permit (Advance Parole). They’re often issued together, in what we call the “combo card.”

That means you can work legally and even leave and return without abandoning your case. If you go the Consular Processing route, you don’t get any of that. You’re stuck waiting abroad, unable to work here, separated from your family, until the consulate gives you an interview date.

A Real Case

The Mistake That Can Cost You Ten Years

A man called me not long ago. He had entered without documents nine years earlier. He married a U.S. citizen, they had two children, bought a house. A lawyer, not from my office, told him that since he already had a citizen wife, the fastest option was to do Consular Processing in his home country.

That man already had his suitcase packed for the flight. Thankfully, his wife came to me first.

When I reviewed his case, that man had more than a year of accumulated unlawful presence. If he had left the country for the consular interview, the ten-year bar would have kicked in. Ten years without being able to come back and watch his children grow up.

That’s when I told him: you’re not going anywhere.

We checked whether he qualified for Section 245(i) through an old petition filed by a relative, and by the grace of God, he did qualify. He adjusted his status from inside the country, without leaving, without risking anything.

Source: USCIS.

USCIS Discretion

“But I Thought Adjustment of Status Was Always the Safest Option”

A lot of people tell me that. And yes, you do get to stay here with your family while your case moves forward. But since May 2026, USCIS treats Adjustment of Status as an extraordinary benefit, not a routine procedure.

That means the officer weighs every status violation, every entry without inspection, every small lie on a tourist visa, more heavily than before.

Shev Dalal-Dheini, of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), said the memo’s impact “is going to be very case-specific.” And she’s right. Every case is different. Are we clear on that?

Source: AILA.

Action Plan

What You Need to Check Before Deciding

Source: USCIS; U.S. Department of State.

The Path Forward

What Comes After Choosing the Right Path

A well-made decision between Adjustment of Status and Consular Processing rests on unlawful presence calculated with precision, real eligibility under 245(i), and documented equities — not on what an acquaintance told you.

We’re going to keep fighting, because the rules will keep changing, but a family’s right to stay together shouldn’t depend on which lawyer they happened to find first. Every case we review carefully is a way of saying: this family doesn’t get separated over carelessness.