Can an arriving alien apply for adjustment of status?
Arriving Aliens and Motions to Reopen, with a narrow anomaly not related to this case, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has full jurisdiction to judge an arriving alien’s application for adjustment of status under 8 C.F.R. § 245.2(a)(1) (2009) and agrees that it retains jurisdiction to settle the application even where an partial administratively final order of removal remains excellent, with regard to untimely or number-barred transit to reopen, the Board will not generally exercise its discretion to reopen proceedings sua sponte for an arriving alien to pursue adjustment of status before the USCIS.
