People often talk about how quickly immigration law and policy change. Today, we have a perfect example of that. To get started, I need to explain a little bit of the law so that you can understand how huge this change is.
To qualify for a green card, one of the things you often need to show is a lawful admission or entry to the United States. There are some exceptions, but for people who apply based on family members or employment, the legal entry is vital. Without the lawful entry or admission, the applicant must return to their home country, apply for a waiver to return, and obtain an immigrant visa – a process that takes years and has significant risks.
When people are granted U status (full U status, not the bona fide determination), it has been deemed an “admission” by USCIS. This meant that if the U applicant who entered without a lawful entry and who also had an immediate relative family member who could sponsor them for a green card, they now had the option to apply based on the family member. It opened a door and was a narrow, but meaningful path to stability for many survivors of crime who had already endured years of hardship.
There remained, and still remains, the option of applying for the green card after having U status for three years—getting a green card based on the U approval does not require a lawful entry.
On November 3, 2025, USCIS issued a policy memo saying that a U grant would no longer be considered an “admission.” This means that for anyone with a U approval who entered unlawfully, even if they have a US citizen parent, spouse, or child who could sponsor them, they now have to wait three years to apply for their green card. Three years may not seem like a long time, but it’s just another way this administration is making life unnecessarily complicated for immigrants and their families.
The policy memo made no mention of what will happen to all the cases like this that are pending—one presumes that they’ll all be denied, but we don’t know. There was no warning, no grace period. It’s beyond frustrating that USCIS changes the rules in the middle of the game—it undermines fairness and trust – and to me, it feels like a miscarriage of justice.