By: Richard Hanus, Esq.
September 20, 2026
For foreign nationals present in the U.S. and seeking permanent resident status (AKA Green Card) or U.S. citizenship, the review process has become increasingly unpredictable in terms of timing as well as level of scrutiny. Below are the latest U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Citizenship and Immigration Services (US DHS/CIS) processing times along with a discussion of what’s different these days about the way US DHS/CIS, under the current administration, is approaching these filings:
Applicants for Adjustment of Status to Permanent Resident (I-485) are seeing varying timelines. First, the vast majority of Adjustment of Status applications, whether based on a family member’s petition or an employer’s petition, are being scheduled for interview, and with just a small percentage having their cases being approved without an interview. Most often, my office has seen interviews waived for many employment based applications, or non-marriage family based applications and where the applicant has always maintained their nonimmigrant visa status and has no blemish on their record. For cases pending at US DHS/CIS’ Chicago Field Office, marriage based applicants can expect to be interviewed within 3-6 months of filing, and all other I-485 applicants, within 6-18 months of filing.
For those interviewed and who are otherwise eligible to be considered to adjust their status in the U.S., US DHS/CIS interviewing officers, for employment based cases, are placing extra focus on the nature of the job at issue, the legitimacy of the sponsoring employer, the employee’s qualifications and overall, the employer/employee relationship. For marriage based cases, officers are directing intensive scrutiny toward the underlying marital relationship, its history and the parties’ living arrangement.
For applicants who have overstayed their visa status or were employed without authorization (most commonly for marriage based applicants, or for parents of adult U.S. citizens), expect the interviewing officer to fire away on a long line of questions about why you overstayed, and who, when and where were you working for. What used to be fairly straightforward approvals, notwithstanding these types of immigration violations, are a thing of the past. If you are an applicant with less than a perfect immigration record, you still have a chance at getting approved. However, you should be prepared to present additional supporting documentation, such as evidence of your good moral character, close family ties in the U.S., hardships to U.S. family members, and other positive equities to give the interviewing officer an adequate discretionary basis to approve your case. Finally, add to the mix the yet to be defined hurdles presented by the new public charge policies, where financially challenged applicants and/or petitioners will be under a fiscal microscope when it comes to the prospect that the applicant might become dependent on government welfare or assistance.
Applicants for Naturalization (N-400 – U.S. citizenship) are facing a processing standstill, at least when it comes to applications pending before US DHS/CIS’ Chicago Field Office. For my own clientele, I am seeing applicants waiting at least 14 + months to have their interviews scheduled (from date of filing). Furthermore, once scheduled, US DHS/CIS officers are reviewing applicants’ histories with a fine tooth comb, and even revisiting in great depth how the applicant was first accorded resident status and whether that decision and process was proper.
For applicants facing either the adjustment of status or naturalization process, the key is to be prepared. The decisionmaking environment appears to be one where US DHS/CIS officers are looking for ways to deny cases. For filings that are denied, there are always motions to reconsider/reopen, appeals and a defense to removal (deportation) proceedings to try to undo the damage. But, if at all avoidable, applicants must take all steps possible to adequately document their filings and without having to spend additional resources (i.e. time and expense) to reverse an adverse decision.
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