Adjustment of Status is an immigration process that allows a non-immigrant who is physically present in the U.S. to "adjust" his or her status to that of a lawful permanent resident. This process is most commonly used for non-immigrants in the U.S. to change their status to lawful permanent residents if they have been approved for an employment-based immigrant visa or a family-based immigrant visa.

In our immigration law practice most of the adjustment of status cases we handle involve non-immigrants who are present in the U.S. on a variety of non-immigrant visa including F1 student visas, B1/B2 visitor visas, H1B visas, TN visas, J1 visas and almost any other kind of non-immigrant visa. In the common case, the non-immigrant marries a U.S. Citizen and then wants to obtain lawful permanent residency.

There are a few basic requirements that a non-immigrant must meet to qualify for the adjustment of status process:

• The adjustment of status applicant must have been inspected by an immigration officer when he or she entered the U.S. This precludes any unlawful immigrants who snuck across the border. However, non-immigrants who entered the country legally but overstayed may still qualify if their adjustment of status petition is based on marriage to a U.S. Citizen.
• An immigrant visa must be immediately available to the prospective applicant. Basically, this means immediate relatives of U.S. Citizens (spouses, children or parents) or those with approved employment-based immigrant visas.

If you have questions regarding the requirements for adjustment of status or would like assistance with your adjustment of status petition please contact us for your free consultation.