Updated May 24, 2026.

5 Positive Factors USCIS Weighs in Discretionary Adjustment of Status After PM-602-0199

If you are preparing an I-485 file right now, knowing which positive factors carry the most weight can help you and your attorney build a stronger record. Here is what the current framework looks for.

After the May 2026 policy memorandum reframed adjustment of status under INA section 245 as a discretionary benefit rather than a near-automatic step after eligibility, five categories of positive equity carry the heaviest evidentiary weight in an I-485 file: long-term lawful presence, U.S.-citizen and lawful permanent resident family ties, consistent federal tax compliance, steady employment and community ties, and humanitarian care-giving responsibilities. Each category needs primary-source documentation, not declarations.

What Changed in May 2026 and Why Positive Factors Now Matter More

USCIS Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199, issued May 21, 2026, directs adjudicating officers to weigh the totality of positive and negative discretionary factors at the Form I-485 stage. Before, many applicants assumed that a clean Form I-130 chain plus a pending Form I-485 would resolve favorably on its own. That assumption no longer holds. You are now expected to affirmatively build an equity record and put it in front of the officer.

Think of it as a balance scale. Your positive factors sit on one side. Negative factors, such as overstays or prior denials, sit on the other. The officer weighs both sides, one fact at a time. A file with only eligibility paperwork leaves the positive side of the scale empty.

For background on why filing remains possible, see our explainer on whether you can still file adjustment of status in 2026. For the case-law terminology adjudicators will use, see the unusual outstanding equities explainer.

The 5 Positive Factors

The five categories below are ordered roughly by the weight adjudicators historically credit, but stronger documentation in a lower-ranked category can shift the balance. No single factor is treated as decisive. The list is drawn from BIA case law, USCIS adjudicator training, and contemporary law-firm analyses of PM-602-0199.

Factor 1: Long-Term Lawful Presence in the United States

Sustained lawful presence tends to be weighed first. It is the easiest factor to document with primary-source records and the hardest to fabricate. An applicant who has held valid nonimmigrant status across multiple visa categories, for example F-1 student status followed by H-1B specialty occupation status, presents a compliance record that an officer can verify directly against USCIS systems.

The documentation path is straightforward. Order a complete I-94 travel history from the CBP I-94 website. Gather every prior approval notice (Form I-797) for nonimmigrant petitions and extensions. Assemble every EAD card issued. Pull SEVIS records where applicable. Length of presence matters, but continuity of status matters more. A ten-year record with no gaps weighs differently than a ten-year record that includes unauthorized presence. A licensed immigration attorney can advise how to characterize any gap.

Factor 2: U.S.-Citizen or LPR Immediate Family Ties

Immediate family relationships to U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, including spouse, parent, and minor children, are weighed heavily. They go directly to the question of whether removing the applicant would impose hardship on people the immigration system is designed to protect. Because this category often forms the underlying basis for the adjustment filing itself, the equity record and the petition record frequently overlap.

Primary-source documentation includes certified birth certificates for U.S.-citizen children, the marriage certificate plus joint financial records (joint tax returns, joint bank statements, jointly held leases or mortgages, shared health insurance enrollment), and naturalization certificates for any U.S.-citizen relatives. Photographs and declarations support the record but do not replace these documents. For more on the evidentiary pattern in marriage-based cases, see the marriage-based green card explainer.

Factor 3: Consistent Federal Tax Compliance

Multi-year federal tax compliance is the equity officers read as a signal of good moral character and sustained economic contribution. The pattern officers look for is simple: filing every year you were required to file, filing accurately, and filing under the correct taxpayer identification number, whether that is a Social Security Number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).

The primary-source documents here are the IRS account transcript and the IRS wage and income transcript. Both can be ordered through the IRS online portal or by filing Form 4506-T. Original W-2 and 1099 forms support the transcripts. If you transitioned from ITIN filing to SSN filing, preserve records of both periods to show continuity. State tax records and any sponsor-support records (Form I-864 history) round out the picture. A licensed immigration attorney can advise on how to address any unfiled year, late-filed year, or amended return.

Factor 4: Steady Employment and Community Ties

Steady employment, particularly in critical-need sectors such as healthcare, education, skilled trades, and STEM, strengthens the equity record in two ways: it shows economic self-sufficiency, and it shows contribution to the U.S. economy. Community ties, including religious congregation membership, civic-organization involvement, volunteer service, and professional association membership, extend the picture beyond paid work.

Primary-source documentation includes verification-of-employment letters on employer letterhead with dates, title, and salary; pay stubs spanning the relevant period; professional licenses and continuing-education certificates; and dated letters from clergy, civic organizations, volunteer coordinators, and professional associations describing the nature and duration of involvement. References from civic institutions weigh more than personal-character references because they are harder to obtain and reflect a public record of participation.

Factor 5: Humanitarian and Care-Giving Responsibilities

Humanitarian factors speak directly to the hardship analysis built into discretionary adjudication. This includes care responsibilities for U.S.-citizen children, care for elderly U.S.-citizen or lawful permanent resident parents, and ongoing medical-care obligations for a qualifying relative. This category overlaps with the extraordinary discretionary relief framing that PM-602-0199 reinforces.

Primary-source documentation includes school enrollment and medical records for U.S.-citizen children, physician letters describing ongoing care needs for an elderly relative, caregiver-arrangement documentation, and any state-level guardianship or conservatorship records. Where care for a relative with a serious medical condition is the central equity, a physician letter that describes the condition, the prognosis, and the applicant's specific role in care management carries materially more weight than a general declaration. A licensed immigration attorney can advise on how to present this category without over-disclosing protected medical information.

How to Document Each Factor Before Meeting an Attorney

Per the USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7 Part A guidance reaffirmed in May 2026, primary-source records carry materially more weight than declarations. The most useful thing you can do before an attorney consultation is to assemble the documentary record for each of the five categories above. That means I-94 history, approval notices, marriage and birth certificates, tax transcripts, employment verification, community-tie letters, and care-giving records, organized chronologically and labeled by category.

Start the intake walkthrough to map each category to a checklist of documents to gather. For the case-law terminology adjudicators will use in any Request for Evidence, the unusual outstanding equities explainer covers the BIA framework in more detail.

Next Steps

The five positive factors above are the categories most consistently cited by immigration law firms analyzing PM-602-0199. Whether and how each factor applies to your situation requires review by a licensed immigration attorney. Start the intake walkthrough to organize your documentary record, then find an AILA attorney for individualized assessment.

Updated May 24, 2026.