Authoritative reporting and analysis on US immigration law, policy, and procedure.https://docketnews.com/en-ushttps://docketnews.com/articles/aos-discretion-memo-loper-bright-itserve-challenge/https://docketnews.com/articles/aos-discretion-memo-loper-bright-itserve-challenge/USCIS's adjustment-of-status discretion memo arrives in a post-Chevron legal landscape, where agencies no longer enjoy automatic deference and where the ITServe Alliance v. Cissna playbook — sue when the agency changes practice without changing the rule — is back in the immigration bar's toolkit.Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTPM-602-0199Loper BrightITServe AllianceAPA Reviewhttps://docketnews.com/articles/building-aos-discretion-record-2026/https://docketnews.com/articles/building-aos-discretion-record-2026/USCIS's new discretion memo has turned the I-485 interview from a confirmation of statutory eligibility into a discretionary contest. The applicants who clear it will be the ones who arrive with a documented record of taxes, ties, character, and equities — assembled before the notice arrives, not after.Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTPM-602-0199I-485Discretionary FactorsAdjustment of Statushttps://docketnews.com/articles/massachusetts-court-vacates-100k-h1b-fee-proclamation/https://docketnews.com/articles/massachusetts-court-vacates-100k-h1b-fee-proclamation/A federal judge in the District of Massachusetts, ruling on summary judgment in a 20-state coalition suit led by California, vacated the Trump proclamation imposing a $100,000 fee on H-1B petitions filed from abroad. The court held the fee is a tax — and only Congress can levy one.Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTH-1B$100K Fee ProclamationAPA VacaturCalifornia v. Trumphttps://docketnews.com/articles/uscis-aos-memo-walk-back-timeline/https://docketnews.com/articles/uscis-aos-memo-walk-back-timeline/USCIS issued Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199 on May 21, told the press the next morning that adjustment would be granted only in 'extraordinary circumstances,' then walked the statement back by afternoon. Immigration attorneys say the sequence — memo, press release, clarification, interview — left adjudicators and applicants reading from four different scripts.Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTPM-602-0199Adjustment of StatusUSCIS PolicyAgency Communicationshttps://docketnews.com/articles/eb1c-holds-multiplaintiff-suit-restricted-countries/https://docketnews.com/articles/eb1c-holds-multiplaintiff-suit-restricted-countries/An L-1A executive from one of the restricted countries filed an EB-1C I-140 with premium processing in November 2025. Seven months later, USCIS has not adjudicated it. The fix the petitioner reached for — joining a coordinated multi-plaintiff lawsuit — is the same one being assembled across the L-1 community.Sun, 07 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTEB-1CL-1AMulti-Plaintiff SuitPremium Processinghttps://docketnews.com/articles/in-absentia-removal-order-old-deportation-trap/https://docketnews.com/articles/in-absentia-removal-order-old-deportation-trap/Brought as a child, left the country as a teenager, then traveled in and out for years — and only discovers through a FOIA request that an immigration judge ordered removal in absentia in 2008. A familiar pattern, with sharply narrowed exits in 2026.Sun, 07 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTIn-Absentia RemovalPermanent BarINA 240(b)(5)I-130 Petitionhttps://docketnews.com/articles/j1-scholars-marriage-aos-may-2026-memo/https://docketnews.com/articles/j1-scholars-marriage-aos-may-2026-memo/A J-1 research scholar engaged to a U.S. citizen calls in to ask whether to marry and adjust now, or renew the J-1 and wait. The new USCIS adjustment-of-status memo has reshaped the answer — and not in the direction J-1 holders were hoping.Sun, 07 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTJ-1 VisaPM-602-0199INA 212(e)Marriage-Based AOShttps://docketnews.com/articles/uscis-asylum-fee-after-withdrawal-notice/https://docketnews.com/articles/uscis-asylum-fee-after-withdrawal-notice/An applicant who got her marriage-based green card in April and withdrew her pending affirmative asylum case in May still received a USCIS letter demanding the new asylum filing fee. The fix turns on where she sent the withdrawal — and where she did not.Sun, 07 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTAsylum WithdrawalAsylum Filing FeeI-589USCIS Noticeshttps://docketnews.com/articles/adjustment-of-status-interview-prep-2026/https://docketnews.com/articles/adjustment-of-status-interview-prep-2026/USCIS is now interviewing nearly every I-485 applicant, including employment-based filers. With the May 21 memo redefining adjustment as 'extraordinary' discretionary relief, what attorneys tell clients about the in-status defense, the 60/90-day fraud presumption, and the questions officers are asking has changed sharply.Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTI-485AOS Interview245(c) BarsPM-602-0199https://docketnews.com/articles/dorcas-rhode-island-ruling-39-countries/https://docketnews.com/articles/dorcas-rhode-island-ruling-39-countries/Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. struck down four USCIS policies that had frozen benefits, asylum, and re-review processing for nationals of 39 countries. The relief is nationwide — but the post-CASA fight over whether one district judge can do that is far from settled.Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTDorcas v. USCIS39 Countries PauseAPA VacaturTrump v. CASAhttps://docketnews.com/articles/ead-i765-delays-lawsuits-2026/https://docketnews.com/articles/ead-i765-delays-lawsuits-2026/USCIS's December 2025 country-based pauses and the wind-down of CHNV parole have produced a category of applicant who is married to a U.S. citizen, lawfully present, and unable to work. Sixteen-month EAD delays are routine. Attorneys are turning to mandamus and individual APA suits.Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTI-765EADCHNVMandamushttps://docketnews.com/articles/kuwait-statelessness-us-options/https://docketnews.com/articles/kuwait-statelessness-us-options/Roughly 50,000 people in Kuwait have lost their nationality under Decree-Law No. 116/2024 since the Emir suspended Parliament in May 2024. For those already in the United States, the loss of citizenship triggers U.S. visa revocations — and a narrow set of remaining legal options.Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTKuwaitStatelessnessAsylumChanged Circumstanceshttps://docketnews.com/articles/uscis-may-2026-adjustment-of-status-memo/https://docketnews.com/articles/uscis-may-2026-adjustment-of-status-memo/USCIS Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199 reframes adjustment of status as an 'extraordinary' discretionary benefit, instructing officers to weigh prior status violations, intent at entry, and consular-processing alternatives. Practitioners say it rewrites the statute by memo — and a federal-court challenge is being prepared.Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTPM-602-0199Adjustment of StatusINA 245Discretionary Review