The New Era of Adjustment of Status | Beyond the Statutes

Adjustment of Status has long been viewed as one of the most routine areas of immigration practice. File the application, attend the interview, and wait for approval. That reality is changing. In this episode of Beyond the Statutes, Joseph Tsang examines how Adjustment of Status has evolved from a primarily procedural process into one that increasingly requires strategic planning, discretionary analysis, interview preparation, and risk management. Topics discussed include: • The growing importance of AOS strategy under the current administration • How the new USCIS Adjustment of Status discretion memo may impact case outcomes • Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) analysis and aging-out risks • INA §245(k) and INA §245(i) considerations for out-of-status applicants • Adjustment of Status versus Consular Processing and National Visa Center (NVC) strategy • Follow-to-Join considerations for spouses and children abroad • Humanitarian relief options under INA §204(l) • The increasing role of interviews in both family-based and employment-based cases • When withdrawal and refiling may be preferable to risking a denial and Notice to Appear (NTA) • Building an immigration practice that goes beyond application preparation Note that the bulk of this seminar was filmed before the memo on 5/21/26, but remains relevant.