On May 21, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new policy memorandum (PM-602-0199) stating that adjustment of status (AOS) is a discretionary form of relief and should be viewed as an “extraordinary” benefit rather than a routine pathway to permanent residence. Background As a matter of law, even when an applicant meets all statutory eligibility […]
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has published the monthly Visa Bulletin for June 2026. Until June 1, the May 2026 Visa Bulletin remains in effect. The Visa Bulletin contains the DOS’s Final Action Dates chart, which lists the priority dates that are current in each respective category, the categories that are current during the applicable month (i.e., categories that do not have any […]
On May 11, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published an interim final rule confirming authority to not only reject an immigration benefit request, but to deny a request if it is found to contain invalid signatures. The new rule becomes effective on July 10, 2026. USCIS refers to an increase in invalid signatures raising […]
On April 27, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed that it has begun implementing a new security vetting process that is expected to delay adjudications of certain immigration benefits. Who Is Affected? The new vetting procedures apply to immigration benefit types that require fingerprint‑based background checks, including, but not limited […]
