Adjustment of Status

What It Means

Adjustment of Status (AOS) is governed by INA section 245 and allows eligible noncitizens already in the U.S. to become lawful permanent residents without departing for consular processing abroad. The principal application is Form I-485, filed with USCIS along with supporting medical exam (Form I-693), biographic information (Form G-325A historically; now integrated), and typically concurrent Form I-765 for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and Form I-131 for Advance Parole travel authorization. To adjust, the applicant generally must have been inspected and admitted or paroled, have an approved or concurrently filed immigrant petition (Form I-130 for family, Form I-140 for employment, Form I-526 for EB-5), have an available immigrant visa number as shown in the monthly Visa Bulletin, and be admissible to the U.S. under INA section 212. Section 245(a) is the standard statutory basis, but applicants who fell out of status or worked without authorization may need to rely on INA section 245(i) (limited to beneficiaries of petitions filed by April 30, 2001 with a $1,000 penalty) or INA section 245(k) (a 180-day exception for employment-based applicants). USCIS I-485 processing times vary by field office and category, historically ranging from about 8 months in fast offices to over 30 months in slow ones, with EB-2 and EB-3 cases for India and China effectively frozen by retrogression for years at a time. On visatracker.org, Form I-485 throughput is a major input into the Pipeline Score.

Frequently Asked Questions

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