USCIS memo on green cards sparks holiday panic

A USCIS memo limiting when immigrants can adjust status landed just before a holiday weekend, triggering a rush of calls from lawyers and clients trying to protect yearslong plans for green cards. Attorneys say the guidance’s “extraordinary circumstances” thre

Lynden Melmed had planned to spend Friday with family visiting from Germany, taking them to the Capitol and explaining how the American government works over the long holiday weekend.

Instead, he stayed behind and read a USCIS memo about green card applicants.

Melmed. a partner at BAL and a former US Citizenship and Immigration Services chief counsel. said he also had to field questions from clients as the guidance circulated. “You do unfortunately need to clear your schedule,” Melmed said. “That’s just an occupational hazard of being an immigration lawyer.”.

The memo. issued by USCIS on Friday. said it would grant “adjustment of status”—the process that lets some immigrants in the US apply for green cards without leaving—only in “extraordinary circumstances.” The change could force many applicants to leave the country and continue their green card applications abroad rather than completing the process in the US.

Zach Kahler, a USCIS spokesperson, said on Friday that the new guidance likely wouldn’t impact “people who present applications that provide an economic benefit or otherwise are in the national interest.”

For immigration lawyers across the US, the timing turned the policy question into something more immediate: a flood of anxiety over a holiday stretch that’s usually meant for breathing room.

Business was booked into the weekend by worry alone. Six immigration lawyers described the same pattern—clients calling, texting, and emailing to understand whether yearslong plans had shifted overnight, and whether pending cases or future filings would be affected.

The practical questions piled up quickly. Should workers keep filing green-card applications?. Should they wait?. Would any pending cases be pulled into a different path?. Should people avoid international travel?. Companies also asked whether the change was serious enough to alert senior executives immediately.

For now, lawyers said the response was cautious: a wait-and-see approach.

“I started hearing from my clients and from other immigration attorneys within minutes of this memo dropping on Friday morning. ” said Loren Locke. an immigration attorney who works with multinational corporate clients. “It has thrown a lot of uncertainty into something that’s been very stable and very predictable for decades. out of nowhere. with no warning.”.

Brian Hunt, counsel at immigration firm Fragomen, said his firm began hearing from clients on Friday and “pretty much worked all weekend.” “Everyone wants answers as to what this memo means,” he said.

That urgency carried a business dimension. Lawyers said consular processing can be slow and unpredictable, and employers may have trouble planning if workers have to leave the US without knowing when they can return.

“I don’t know how people could just leave their job for months and come back,” Hunt said.

Several attorneys drew a comparison to a September presidential proclamation signed by President Donald Trump that raised the H-1B petition fee to $100,000. They said that change triggered immediate alarm, before later guidance softened its apparent impact.

Locke and others said Friday’s USCIS announcement appeared more severe than the underlying memo, intensifying the sense that the rules had shifted faster than expected.

For startup founders and tech workers, the uncertainty hit right at the moment when plans can feel most fragile. At Bay Immigration Law, Otto Van Maerssen, a senior partner, said many existing clients were seeking reassurance. “For some of them, it was, is it even possible now to adjust status?” Van Maerssen said.

TJ Albrecht, another Bay Immigration attorney, estimated that client outreach surged over the long weekend. He said the firm’s reaction swung between “dread and optimism” as lawyers compared the memo with USCIS’s press release announcing the change.

“So, we think that the vast majority, at least from our clients, will ultimately not be affected,” Albrecht said.

But some visa categories might not have the same insulation. Lawyers said other visa applicants—like students and B-1 temporary business visitors—might be more vulnerable to the memo’s stricter standard.

Divij Kishore, founder of the immigration-focused firm Flagship Law, said clients asked whether they should continue green-card applications, what would happen to pending cases, and whether staying in the US still made sense. He described a mood shift he was already seeing.

“There’s a sense of fatigue that I’m starting to see in the people that I represent,” Kishore said. “I’m concerned that in the way that it’s been released to the public and the way it’s been reported to the public so far. there’s a knee-jerk reaction that’s happening where people are acting out of fear rather than proactive decision-making and thoughtful decision-making.”.

Locke said the memo arrived at the end of a yearslong process for some workers—people who had followed the rules, renewed visas, built careers, and started families in the US.

“It has been chaotic,” Locke said. “Right now, we are waiting to see what USCIS does.”

USCIS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

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