Tagged #i-485
Every article we've published on this topic, sorted by the agency's own announcement date.
I-485 Adjustment of Status: Eligibility Windows for IR-1, IR-2, and IR-5 Cases
Three immediate-relative categories — IR-1 spouse, IR-2 child, IR-5 parent — share one Form I-485 but very different eligibility analyses. Here is what each window requires.
The 2024 USCIS Fee Rule — biometrics bundled in, concurrent EAD/AP at $0, and what that means for your AOS package
USCIS's 2024 fee rule reshaped the math for adjustment-of-status filings: biometrics fold into the I-485, and the I-765 and I-131 are free when filed concurrently. Here's the new total and how to plan around it.
Refugee Resettlement vs Asylee Status: I-730 Follow-to-Join and the I-485 to LPR
Two paths to the same humanitarian outcome — how refugee admission and grants of asylum differ in process, family reunification via I-730, and adjustment to LPR.
Advance Parole for AOS Applicants: When You Need It, and What Happens If You Travel Without It
The Form I-131 advance parole document is what lets a pending adjustment-of-status applicant leave the United States without abandoning the I-485. Here is the rule, the exceptions, and the consequences of getting it wrong.
Public Charge Inadmissibility After the 2022 Final Rule: What Actually Triggers It
The 2022 DHS public-charge rule replaced the 2019 Trump-era regime and tightened the totality-of-circumstances test. Here is what the rule actually counts, and what it ignores.
EB-5 After the 2022 Reform and Integrity Act: The $800K TEA Math, Set-Asides, and Concurrent I-526E / I-485 Filing
How the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-103) reset the EB-5 investor program — the $800,000 TEA investment threshold, the rural / high-unemployment / infrastructure set-asides, and the concurrent-filing pathway under INA § 203(b)(5).
I-140 Portability Under AC21 §106(c): Switching Employers 180 Days After I-485
How AC21 §106(c) and INA §204(j) let an EB beneficiary change jobs once the I-485 has been pending 180 days, what 'same or similar occupation' means, and how Form I-485 Supplement J fits in.
Cuban Adjustment Act: The One-Year-and-a-Day Rule After Parole
How the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act still works in 2026 — parole, physical presence, and the I-485 path that has no real analog in U.S. immigration law.
The 'Dates for Filing' Toggle: When USCIS Lets You File I-485 Off the Earlier Chart
How USCIS decides each month whether I-485 applicants may use the Visa Bulletin's Dates for Filing chart rather than Final Action Dates — and what the answer changes about EAD timing and CSPA.
EB-4 Special-Immigrant Religious Workers: The R-1 to I-360 Pathway and the September 2023 Settlement
How INA § 101(a)(27)(C) and 8 CFR 204.5(m) define special-immigrant religious workers — the two-year membership rule, the qualifying employer, the I-360 site-visit requirement, and the Ruiz-Diaz settlement's effect on AOS timing.
K-1 Fiancé(e) Visa: The 2-Year Meeting Rule and the 90-Day Marriage Clock
The K-1 visa runs on two unforgiving deadlines — the two-year in-person meeting before filing, and the 90-day window to marry after admission. Both have narrow waivers.
The Petty-Offense Exception to CIMT Inadmissibility: INA §212(a)(2)(A)(ii)(II) Done Right
A single CIMT can survive inadmissibility if the maximum possible sentence was a year or less and the actual sentence was six months or less. Matter of Garcia-Hernandez sets the math.
Marriage-Based Green Card Interviews: Stokes, Separation, and the Bona Fides Record
USCIS's Stokes-style separated interviews are the highest-stakes step in a marriage-based case. The bona fides record decides whether the case survives them.