I'm not sure I share your optimism. What is a worker on an H-class visa, if not a "temporary worker"?

I read this with the assumption that "nonimmigrant visa" applies to every category of visa listed here under "Nonimmigrant Visa Categories":

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-inf...

A “non-immigrant” is everything under 8 USC 1101(a)(15): https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:8%20section:1...

Includes H and J. The letters used to refer to those visas comes from the subsections under 1101(a)(15)

It specifically lists H1B as non-immigrant visa on that page, so if you are here working at Google you must leave the country.

If you read the actual policy (it’s on the ISCIS website), it specifically says dual-intent visa are appropriate for AOS in the US.

This is a pretty broad swath of immigrants - H visa (worker and family), L1 (corporate transfer and family) and K1/3 (spouses of US citizen or green card holder).

What this limits are the truly temporary visitors - tourists, students, etc

Looks like it applies to all visitors.

From https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-pr...,

> Adjustment of status is the process that you can use to apply for lawful permanent resident status (also known as applying for a Green Card) when you are present in the United States. This means that you may get a Green Card without having to return to your home country to complete visa processing.

I originally thought that this new regulation would only apply to, say, B-1/B-2 visitors applying to adjust their status (which is how some immigrants bring their parents, for example), but nowhere in the policy it explicitly excludes so called “dual intent” visas (H or L), so given the whole anti-immigration approach of the current administration, I won't be surprised if it turns out that the regular work visa pathway to green card is affected by that too.

Edit: the policy actually indeed mentions dual intent categories:

> USCIS reminds its officers that applying for adjustment of status is not inconsistent with simultaneously maintaining nonimmigrant status in a category with dual intent.

It does it in a way that will, for sure, cause confusion though.

[1]: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/memos/PM-...

My understanding is that the dual-intent visa categories have change-of-status rules written into law.

The adjustment of status process is written into law for all non-immigrant visa categories (except for a couple weird ones, like the visas for crew of ships and aircraft).

If you mean that there is a general law related to change-of-status that was passed in the 70s (or whatever), then yes. But I'm referring to specific wording in the dual-status visa categories (and perhaps some others?) that explicitly prevent the administration from applying this change of interpretation to those categories.

Can you point to the actual statute you're talking about? To my knowledge "dual-intent" only means that the requirement in INA 214(b) that they are presumed to be immigrants until they demonstrate otherwise does not apply. I'm unaware of anything in the adjustment of status process that is different for those on dual-intent visas.

I'm not sure which statute you're talking about. The one establishing adjustment of status as a process was the immigration act of 1952; 8 USC 1255:

https://codes.findlaw.com/us/title-8-aliens-and-nationality/...

With the caveat that I'm absolutely not an expert in this area and have no clear idea what changes have been made since, it's still highly informative to read this section and the carve-outs that were made at the time.

My current understanding is that the creation of "dual-status" visas (immigration act of 1990) paved the way for using the adjustment-of-status process established 8 USC 1255 for those particular visas (like H1B), and thus makes those visas less vulnerable to a change of interpretation by the executive branch. Contrast to, say, a regular tourist visa.

Yes, I'm asking what carveout for dual-intent visas you're aware of in the Immigration and Nationality Act. The section on adjustment of status, INA 245, doesn't mention dual-intent at all.

Dual intent didn't exist when INA 245 (= 8 USC 1255) was drafted.

My current understanding is that the "carveout", as it were, is the creation of the notion of dual-status itself, in the 1990 immigration act. This made H1b visas both immigrant and non-immigrant visas, and thus eligible for INA 245.

For example, a law firm's opinion:

> However, the USCIS memo suggests the new policy may be less applicable to dual-intent nonimmigrant categories (e.g., H-1B, L-1 and their H-4 and L-2 dependents), where applying for adjustment of status is not inconsistent with maintaining status as a temporary visa holder. Dual intent means that a person can legally intend to reside temporarily in the United States for purposes of their temporary H-1B or L-1 work visa and simultaneously intend to apply for a future permanent residence status. Dual intent is a well-established concept in business immigration law, with many decades of support in federal law and regulation. The USCIS policy memo does caution that maintaining H-1B or L-1 dual-intent status alone is not sufficient, on its own, to warrant a favorable exercise of discretion. The USCIS officer must still weigh whether or not to exercise discretion in approving the adjustment application, but adjustment applications have always been discretionary.

https://www.quarles.com/newsroom/publications/top-5-things-t...

"Non-immigrants" is a legal term that means surprisingly more than you think. People on H visas, for example, are "non-immigrants" and would fall under this.