Can Asylum Seekers Still Adjust to Permanent Residency After One Year?

(UNITED STATES) Asylum seekers in the United States 🇺🇸 can still apply for adjustment of status to permanent residence one year after asylum approval, but an internal move by U.S. immigration authorities in late 2025 has thrown a large group of refugees into uncertainty and raised fresh fears about delays and re-checks of old files.

Basic legal pathway for asylees

Under long‑standing law, a person who has been granted asylum becomes eligible to apply for a green card after one full year of physical presence in the country as an asylee. This rule has not changed.

An asylee who meets the requirements may apply for permanent residence, usually by filing <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/i-485">Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status</a>, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS.gov). Official instructions for this form are posted on the USCIS website at Form I-485.

To qualify, an applicant must:

• Be a “refugee” under U.S. law, meaning a person with a well‑founded fear of persecution in their home country.
• Have not firmly settled in another country during that time.
• Not be barred from the United States on criminal, security, or other “inadmissibility” grounds, unless a waiver applies.

According to USCIS guidance, the adjustment of status process is meant to decide if the person can become a permanent resident and normally does not re‑litigate the original asylum grant itself.

Public charge rule and fee waivers — protections for asylees

One of the most important protections for asylees is that they are not subject to the public charge test when applying for a green card. The public charge rule allows immigration officials to deny applicants who are likely to depend primarily on government cash assistance in the future; this can affect many other green card categories. But:

• Federal law and USCIS policy treat asylees differently.
• Even if an asylee has used programs such as public assistance or Supplemental Security Income, that use does not block eligibility for permanent residence.
• This exemption helps people who often arrive with little money, few ties, and serious trauma.

Asylees who cannot afford the government filing fees may request a fee waiver when filing Form I-485, arguing that paying the fee would cause financial hardship. USCIS provides guidance on fee waivers and supporting documents at Form I-485 instructions. For low‑income asylum families, a fee waiver can make the difference between remaining in temporary status and securing a green card that opens the path to stability and, later, citizenship.

The November 21, 2025 memo and its immediate effects

An internal memo signed by USCIS Director Joe Edlow on November 21, 2025 ordered officers to review and potentially re‑interview all refugees admitted between January 21, 2021, and February 20, 2025 — a group estimated at around 200,000 people.

Key points from the memo:

• Officers are instructed to review and potentially re‑interview refugees admitted in that four‑year period.
• The instruction extends beyond refugees still holding temporary status and includes those who have already adjusted to lawful permanent residence during that period.
• There is an instant pause on deciding any adjustment of status applications filed by:
  • Refugees admitted in that time window,
  • Their spouses and children (derivatives),
  • Follow‑to‑join family members.
• USCIS has 90 days from the memo date to build a detailed list of cases for review and to pick files to re‑interview first.

This pause stops officers from issuing decisions on green card requests for the affected group while USCIS creates its review list. The memo signals a broad, case‑by‑case re‑examination rather than a narrow audit of only a few files.

Timeline summary (key dates and numbers)

What the memo does and does not change

This pause does not directly change the written rules for asylees who became refugees through a grant of asylum inside the United States and who apply for adjustment of status one year after asylum approval. Their legal standard for a green card remains the same, including the public charge exemption.

However, the memo’s language about re‑checking earlier refugee approvals and holding off on decisions for a large block of people has raised concerns:

• Advocates worry that similar review tools could be extended.
• There is fear that asylum‑based adjustments might face extra scrutiny in practice, even if policies on paper stay stable.

The memo also notes that refugees who already hold green cards from that time frame may be brought in for re‑interviews, creating the prospect of status challenges for people who believed their cases were settled.

The memo underscores how quickly the balance between written rules and real‑world processing can shift for some of the world’s most vulnerable migrants.

Legal advocates’ concerns and possible scope of review

Legal advocates tracking the memo say the wide time range — January 21, 2021, to February 20, 2025 — suggests a review of several different admission programs and vetting systems used across two administrations.

• Analysis by VisaVerge.com indicates that the instruction for a “comprehensive review” suggests USCIS officers could reopen questions about:
  • Identity,
  • Security checks,
  • Claimed persecution,
    that were already examined when refugee status was first granted.

The agency has not publicly detailed which red flags or patterns it is looking for as it sorts through roughly 200,000 cases.

Citizenship clock and incentives to file early

For asylees not part of the refugee admission group covered by the memo, the core benefits of the post‑asylum path still apply.

• Once an asylee successfully completes adjustment of status and becomes a permanent resident, the clock toward citizenship generally runs faster than for most other green card holders.
• U.S. law lets them count one extra year of “residence” at the time of approval, so they may usually apply for naturalization after four years instead of the standard five.
• In practice, USCIS treats their “date of admission” as if it were one year before the green card approval date, which shortens the waiting time to file for U.S. citizenship.

This shorter path matters in practical ways: lost work offers, difficulties visiting sick relatives abroad, and vulnerability to policy shifts all make earlier citizenship eligibility meaningful for people rebuilding after trauma.

Practical advice from immigration lawyers

Immigration lawyers recommend that asylum seekers who reach the one‑year mark after asylum approval consider filing for adjustment of status as soon as they qualify rather than waiting. Benefits of early filing include:

1. Locking in the public charge protections for asylees.
2. Starting the four‑year citizenship clock sooner.
3. Creating a paper trail that documents continuous long‑term residence.

In a climate where internal memos can suddenly pause or reshape processing, many see early action as a way to reduce future risk.

Final takeaway

For now, the law continues to say that an asylee who has:

• Lived in the United States for one year after a grant of asylum,
• Still fears persecution,
• Has not firmly settled in another country,
• Is not barred on other admissibility grounds

can apply to adjust status to become a permanent resident, without being subject to the public charge test.

The November 21, 2025 memo does not repeal that promise, but its broad review orders and the pause on refugee adjustments underscore how processing practice can change quickly — with significant consequences for thousands of refugees and their families.