Immigration policy in the first half of 2026 was confusing and unpredictable as attorneys navigated sudden and drastic policy shifts, including a requirement for green-card hopefuls to apply from abroad and a freeze on immigration benefits for people from countries under a travel ban.

Here, Law360 looks at five of the top immigration policies that have kept attorneys busy in the first six months of the year fielding calls from panicked clients and scrambling to make sense of rapid changes.

Adjustment of Status

On May 22, USCIS announced that noncitizens in the U.S. on nonimmigrant visas who want to become lawful permanent residents must now apply from abroad, calling it a way to close "incentivizing loopholes" that nonimmigrant visa holders have used as a stepping stone to get green cards.

USCIS said that noncitizens who apply for a green card under Section 245(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act from within the U.S. must now show "unusual or even outstanding equities" to adjust their status without having to leave the U.S. first.

It marked an abrupt shift in how the agency has handled adjustment of status applications. For decades, USCIS had allowed highly-skilled immigrants to use adjustment of status as a primary path to permanent residency.

As with other administration policy announcements, this one came with an immediate rush of panic, according to Duane Morris LLP partner Maxine Bayley. Initially, she said, attorneys believed that every green-card hopeful would have to leave the country and that consulates abroad would be jammed up.

But the impact so far hasn't been as severe as initially feared, she said.

"We're still seeing applications be accepted. I've had a couple of approvals ... with no extra scrutiny, so I think everyone's trying to figure out exactly how this is going to play out," Bayley said.

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