INA §245 / 8 U.S.C. §1255
INA §245 is the starting point for many adjustment cases. It should be read subsection by subsection because the statute does considerably more than create ordinary adjustment eligibility.
| Provision | Primary Subject |
|---|---|
| §245(a) | Ordinary adjustment eligibility, including inspection and admission or parole, immigrant visa eligibility, admissibility, visa availability, and discretionary adjustment |
| §245(c) | Statutory adjustment bars |
| §245(d) | Conditional resident and K nonimmigrant restrictions |
| §245(e) | Marriage entered during specified proceedings |
| §245(f) | Restriction involving certain EB-5 conditional residents |
| §245(h) | Special immigrant juvenile adjustment provisions |
| §245(i) | Grandfathered adjustment based on qualifying historical filings |
| §245(j) | S nonimmigrant adjustment |
| §245(k) | Employment-based exception from specified §245(c) bars |
| §245(l) | T nonimmigrant adjustment |
| §245(m) | U nonimmigrant adjustment |
| §245(n) | EB-5 concurrent filing |
See the INA §245 Overview.
8 C.F.R. Parts 245 and 1245
Two parallel sets of adjustment regulations are especially important.
8 C.F.R. Part 245
DHS regulations govern USCIS adjustment adjudications, including eligibility, filing, visa availability, travel, decisions, and certain specialized procedures.
8 C.F.R. Part 1245
EOIR regulations govern adjustment before immigration judges and establish important jurisdictional rules for applicants in removal proceedings.
USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7
Volume 7 is USCIS's principal current Policy Manual source for adjustment of status.
Major parts include:
- Part A: Adjustment policies and procedures;
- Part B: INA §245(a) adjustment;
- Part C: INA §245(i);
- Part D: Family-based adjustment;
- Part E: Employment-based adjustment;
- Part F: Special immigrant-based adjustment;
- Part G: Refugee adjustment;
- Part H: Asylee adjustment;
- Part I: VAWA-based adjustment;
- Part K: Crime-victim-based adjustment, including T and U cases;
- Part P: Other adjustment programs; and
- Additional parts addressing other specialized adjustment subjects.
Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 10 contains USCIS's general adjustment guidance concerning legal analysis and the use of discretion.
Current USCIS policy memoranda affecting adjustment
USCIS policy memoranda can provide current instructions to adjudicators in addition to Policy Manual guidance. Researchers should determine whether a memorandum remains operative, has been incorporated into the Policy Manual, or has been superseded.
PM-602-0199 — Adjustment of Status and Discretion
USCIS renewed its emphasis on adjustment of status as a discretionary benefit where the governing statute gives the agency discretion.
The memorandum directs officers to evaluate relevant favorable and unfavorable circumstances, including immigration history, compliance with immigration laws, circumstances surrounding admission or parole, prior representations to government officials, conduct after admission or parole, family ties, moral character, and other relevant factors.
It also recognizes dual-intent classifications such as H-1B and L-1 and instructs officers issuing a discretionary denial to explain the positive and negative factors considered and why the negative factors outweigh the positive factors.
PA-2025-16 — Clarifying Discretionary Factors in Certain Immigration Benefit Requests
USCIS updated several Policy Manual provisions concerning discretionary adjudications, including Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 10.
The policy update should be distinguished from the separate question of whether an underlying immigrant petition itself contains a discretionary element.
PA-2020-22 — Use of Discretion for Adjustment of Status
USCIS consolidated adjustment-discretion guidance into Volume 7 and described the totality-of-the-circumstances balancing of positive and negative factors.
Statutory eligibility, admissibility, and favorable discretion are separate inquiries. A discretionary concern should not automatically be described as an INA §212 inadmissibility ground or an INA §245(c) adjustment bar.
Key BIA adjustment precedents
Published BIA precedent decisions can bind immigration judges and DHS nationwide unless modified by the Attorney General or controlling federal court authority.
Matter of Arai
A foundational adjustment-discretion case addressing the weighing of favorable equities and adverse factors. It remains an important starting point for the discretionary component of adjustment analysis.
Matter of Quilantan
Holds that a procedurally regular entry after inspection and authorization to enter can constitute an admission for INA §245(a), including the classic wave-through circumstance.
Matter of Arrabally & Yerrabelly
Current status: Matter of Arrabally & Yerrabelly, 25 I&N Dec. 771 (BIA 2012), historically held that advance-parole travel was not a “departure” for purposes of INA §212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II). On August 13, 2026, Matter of DELCARMEN-LARA, 29 I&N Dec. 830 (BIA 2026), expressly overruled that holding and held that departure under advance parole is a “departure” within that provision. The Board expressly made the new holding prospective, so departures occurring before the decision require separate prospectivity analysis.
Matter of Briones
Important INA §245(i) precedent addressing the interaction between grandfathered adjustment and inadmissibility under INA §212(a)(9)(C).
Always determine whether an administrative decision is designated as precedent. A nonprecedent AAO decision can be informative but does not carry the same binding force as a published BIA or Attorney General precedent.
Important Supreme Court adjustment decisions
Sanchez v. Mayorkas
The Supreme Court held that a grant of Temporary Protected Status does not itself constitute an admission for purposes of the ordinary INA §245(a) inspected-and-admitted requirement.
Patel v. Garland
The Supreme Court interpreted INA §242(a)(2)(B)(i) broadly in the removal-proceedings context and held that the judicial-review restriction reaches factual findings underlying a request for adjustment of status.
INA §212 and adjustment of status
INA §245 generally addresses whether a person can use the adjustment mechanism. INA §212 identifies grounds that can make an applicant inadmissible for permanent residence.
Common inadmissibility issues in adjustment cases include:
- Health-related grounds;
- Criminal grounds;
- Controlled-substance violations;
- Fraud or willful misrepresentation;
- False claims to U.S. citizenship;
- Alien smuggling;
- Unlawful presence;
- Prior removal;
- INA §212(a)(9)(C);
- Security-related grounds; and
- Public-charge requirements where applicable.
An INA §245 adjustment bar, an INA §212 inadmissibility ground, and a negative discretionary factor are legally distinct even when the same historical conduct is relevant to more than one inquiry.
Visa-number law and the Visa Bulletin
Preference-based adjustment also depends on the immigrant visa allocation system established by INA §§201 through 203 and the related chargeability provisions.
Research can require:
- The applicant's preference category;
- Priority-date rules;
- Country of chargeability;
- Cross-chargeability;
- Department of State Visa Bulletin;
- USCIS monthly adjustment filing chart;
- Final Action Dates;
- Dates for Filing;
- Visa retrogression; and
- Child Status Protection Act rules.
USCIS adjustment forms and instructions
Form instructions are important procedural authorities and should be checked immediately before filing because editions, fees, addresses, and filing requirements can change.
| Form | Primary Function |
|---|---|
| Form I-485 | Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status |
| Form I-485 Supplement A | Adjustment under INA §245(i) |
| Form I-485 Supplement J | Confirmation of qualifying employment offer or request for INA §204(j) portability |
| Form I-693 | Immigration medical examination and vaccination record |
| Form I-864 | Affidavit of Support where required |
| Form I-765 | Employment authorization request where eligible |
| Form I-131 | Advance parole and other travel documentation |
| Form I-290B | Motion or appeal procedure for qualifying USCIS decisions |
AAO decisions and nonprecedent authority
USCIS's Administrative Appeals Office publishes many nonprecedent decisions involving immigration benefit adjudications.
These decisions can be useful for understanding:
- How USCIS analyzes recurring evidentiary problems;
- How agency adjudicators apply regulations and policy;
- How factual patterns have been evaluated;
- What evidence USCIS has considered persuasive or deficient; and
- How procedural arguments have been treated.
Adjustment jurisdiction authorities
Adjustment research must determine which agency has jurisdiction before focusing only on substantive eligibility.
| Authority | Research Function |
|---|---|
| 8 C.F.R. §245.2(a)(1) | General USCIS adjustment jurisdiction |
| 8 C.F.R. §1245.2(a)(1) | Immigration-judge adjustment jurisdiction in removal proceedings |
| 8 C.F.R. §1245.2(a)(1)(ii) | Special arriving-alien jurisdiction rule |
| INA §242 / 8 U.S.C. §1252 | Judicial review and federal jurisdiction limitations |
| INA §246 / 8 U.S.C. §1256 | Rescission following adjustment |
How to research an adjustment problem
A disciplined adjustment analysis can follow this sequence:
| Step | Research Question |
|---|---|
| 1 | What statute authorizes this particular adjustment application? |
| 2 | What facts must the applicant prove under that statute? |
| 3 | Does an INA §245 adjustment bar apply? |
| 4 | Does §245(i), §245(k), VAWA, SIJ, or another exception alter the result? |
| 5 | Is the applicant inadmissible under INA §212? |
| 6 | Is an immigrant visa available as required for filing or final approval? |
| 7 | Which agency currently has jurisdiction? |
| 8 | What regulation or binding precedent interprets the disputed issue? |
| 9 | What current USCIS policy applies, including any operative policy memorandum? |
| 10 | What evidence establishes the material facts under the applicable burden and standard of proof? |
| 11 | If adjustment is discretionary, what positive and negative factors should be analyzed? |
| 12 | What procedural remedy exists if USCIS or EOIR reaches an adverse decision? |
Begin with the statute creating eligibility, then move outward to regulations, binding precedent, controlling federal law, current agency policy, and the evidentiary record. Keep statutory eligibility, inadmissibility, and discretion analytically separate.