On May 21, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum that materially reshapes the agency’s approach to adjustment of status (AOS), the process by which many foreign nationals apply for a green card from within the United States. Although presented as a reaffirmation of existing law, the memorandum directs immigration officers to treat AOS as a “matter of discretion” and “administrative grace” that should be used only as “extraordinary relief.”  This unexpected change marks a stark departure from decades of uneventful AOS adjudications and creates significant changes for hundreds of thousands of current and future green card applicants unable to presume that completing the green card process from within the United States remains the default option.