U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will now permit some immediate relatives of US citizens, who were last admitted into the United States under the Visa Waiver Program(VWP), to apply for adjustment of status. This also applies to the relatives of US citizens who are currently out of status and who have stayed in the United States longer than they were permitted to stay. Such immigrants will now be permitted to apply for adjustment of status and live legally in the United States, under the new Nov. 14 policy memorandum from USCIS.
37 foreign countries participate in the VWP. Citizens of those countries who have stayed longer than their authorized period of stay and who are immediate relatives of US citizens, can now file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status and adjust their status to permanent resident status. This new immigration policy change has been authorized by the Obama administration.
People who belong to visa waiver countries can travel to the United States without visas but they can stay in the country only for a 90 day period. According to the new policy, those who enter into the United States under the VWP can now adjust their status to permanent resident status if they are immediate relatives of US citizens. This new policy was issued a day before the Obama administration issued a policy to permit the immediate relatives of veterans and the members of the US armed forces, who are undocumented, to remain in the country.
In accordance with Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, USCIS will adjudicate adjustment of status applications filed by the immediate relatives of US citizens who entered into the country under the Visa Waiver Program. Those who have stayed in the country for more than 90 days and who are undocumented also can file applications for adjustment of status. This applies only to those who were last admitted into the United States under the VWP. However, applicants need to be admissible into the country and must not have been convicted of egregious public safety offenses.