• USCIS issued new green-card guidance before the holiday weekend.
• BI spoke with six immigration lawyers about the fallout from the memo.
• Lawyers said anxious clients asked whether their yearslong plans had changed overnight.

Lynden Melmed was supposed to be spending part of his Friday with family visiting from Germany. They were touring the Capitol and learning how the American government works during the long holiday weekend.

Then, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services released a memo about green card applicants. Melmed, a partner at BAL and former US Citizenship and Immigration Services chief counsel, stayed behind to read it and field client questions.

"You do unfortunately need to clear your schedule," Melmed said. "That's just an occupational hazard of being an immigration lawyer."

On Friday, USCIS announced that it would grant "adjustment of status" — the process that lets some immigrants in the US apply for green cards without leaving — only in "extraordinary circumstances."

The decision could force many immigrants to leave the country and continue their green card applications abroad rather than completing the process in the US.

A USCIS spokesperson, Zach Kahler, said on Friday that the new guidance likely wouldn't impact "people who present applications that provide an economic benefit or otherwise are in the national interest."

Business Insider spoke with six immigration lawyers across the US who work with tech workers, startup founders, physicians, investors, and other foreign national workers. They described a holiday weekend packed with calls, texts, and emails from anxious clients trying to understand whether yearslong green-card plans had changed overnight.

The questions were practical: Should workers keep filing green-card applications? Should they wait? Would pending cases be affected? Should people avoid international travel?

Companies were also asking whether this was serious enough to brief senior executives immediately.

For now, the answer was a cautious wait-and-see.

"I started hearing from my clients and from other immigration attorneys within minutes of this memo dropping on Friday morning," said Loren Locke, an immigration attorney who works with multinational corporate clients. "It has thrown a lot of uncertainty into something that's been very stable and very predictable for decades, out of nowhere, with no warning."

Brian Hunt, counsel at immigration firm Fragomen, said his company began hearing from clients on Friday and "pretty much worked all weekend."

"Everyone wants answers as to what this memo means," he said.

For employers, the concern is not abstract. Consular processing can be slow and unpredictable, lawyers said, and companies may struggle if workers have to leave the US without knowing when they can return.

"I don't know how people could just leave their job for months and come back," Hunt said.

Multiple lawyers compared the rollout to a September presidential proclamation signed by President Donald Trump that raised the H-1B petition fee to $100,000, which sparked immediate alarm before later guidance softened its apparent impact.

Several attorneys also said Friday's announcement appeared more severe than the underlying memo.

At Bay Immigration Law, which works with startup founders and tech workers, Otto Van Maerssen said many existing clients were seeking reassurance. "For some of them, it was, is it even possible now to adjust status?" Van Maerssen, a senior partner, said.

TJ Albrecht, managing director at Bay Immigration, estimated that client outreach surged over the long weekend. He said the firm's reaction oscillated between "dread and optimism" as lawyers compared the memo with the USCIS press release announcing the change.

"So, we think that the vast majority, at least from our clients, will ultimately not be affected," he said. Other visa applicants — like students and B-1 temporary business visitors — might not be so lucky.

Divij Kishore, founder of the immigration-focused firm Flagship Law, said clients asked whether they should continue with green-card applications, what would happen to pending cases, and whether staying in the US still made sense.

"There's a sense of fatigue that I'm starting to see in the people that I represent," Kishore said. "I'm concerned that in the way that it's been released to the public and the way it's been reported to the public so far, there's a knee-jerk reaction that's happening where people are acting out of fear rather than proactive decision-making and thoughtful decision-making."

Locke said the memo arrived at the end of a yearslong process for some workers who had followed the rules, renewed visas, built careers, and started families in the US.

"It has been chaotic," she said. "Right now, we are waiting to see what USCIS does."

USCIS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Tehmina Watson is an immigration lawyer who advises startup founders and businesses.
• Watson says there has been panic and confusion about the most recent immigration policy memo.
• She advises tech workers to get in contact with their lawyers now to address their visas.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tahmina Watson, a business immigration lawyer in Seattle. It's been edited for length and clarity.

When I saw the administration's new immigration policy memo last Friday, stating that I-485 forms will only be approved in "extraordinary circumstances," I felt like the sky was falling.

The I-485 is the form used to apply for a green card (legal permanent residence) from inside the US. The last several days have been filled with fear, stress, and confusion, from people who don't know what this means for their status, and if they'll have to leave the country.

I'm the founding attorney of Watson Immigration Law. We specialize in business and family immigration. One of our areas of expertise is working with startup founders and businesses that are expanding into the United States, and many of my clients are tech workers.

It's hard to wrap my head around the enormity of this decision because the I-485 is used in almost every category of immigration to allow people to adjust their status from visa to green card.

This change will have a ripple effect on everyone. Laid-off tech workers are in a particularly difficult spot. My advice is to get in contact with your lawyer now and gather documentation.

Green cards will only be granted to those in 'extraordinary circumstances'

People can apply to adjust status to permanent residence from inside the US by filing Form I-485 with USCIS.

While the memo initially stated that I-485 forms will only be approved in extraordinary circumstances, a USCIS spokesperson clarified that those who bring economic benefits to the United States will be viewed favorably in their adjudication. However, there's no real policy guidance yet.

Typically, if somebody has arrived in the United States legally, they can adjust their status to that of a green card holder without leaving. The memo is essentially saying the intent of the law is that people get their applications filed outside the US, and that they're returning to the intent of the law.

The last 72 hours have been full of fear, stress, and confusion

Since Friday, my email has been blowing up with people asking, "What does it mean? What do we do?" The immigration lawyer community has been scrambling to figure out what this means as well, so Friday was very much about a lot of analyzing, discussing what we're going to do, and setting up calls with our clients.

So much is still uncertain. As the week unfolds, we might see more clarification from the administration. We may actually see litigation on the subject where the policy could actually be completely or partially enjoined. I sincerely hope that the courts will enjoin this policy.

I think a lot of my guidance to people will be dependent on what we hear from the administration in the coming days.

If you're on a work visa, start gathering documents that prove your economic benefits to the US

A lot of my clients work in tech, and the question that's been coming up since the memo release is what happens to people with work visas, such as H-1B.

On page five of the memo, it states that "maintaining lawful status in a dual intent non-immigrant category is not sufficient on its own to warrant a favorable exercise of discretion." To me, that means my clients need to file even more documentation to prove the economic benefit that they bring to the United States.

I'd advise people to get in contact with their lawyers and act urgently. For work visa holders, it will be important to sit down with their lawyers and figure out what kind of positive economic documents they can submit with their adjustment applications to prove the economic benefits they provide.

This policy will have a ripple effect on people and businesses

If a policy like this continues to go forward, families could be separated for years, likely because the consulates will not be able to shoulder the burden of the volume that will be required to adjudicate.

This means the people currently waiting will wait longer, and those who are being put into the system will exacerbate the system.

It will also mean that the businesses that invest in their workers are going to suffer because their workers will have to wait outside the country.

Laid-off tech workers are at risk

There are categories of people who never intended to be out of status, like folks who've been laid off from their tech jobs.

Laid-off workers have a 60-day grace period to find another employer to sponsor their visa or change their visa status to an interim visa, such as a tourist visa. However, it appears that the administration could be taking the perspective that those who apply for an interim visa have not maintained status.

If Big Tech companies are laying people off and not hiring, where are these people going to be able to get jobs to maintain their status? The ripple effects of this change are going to be felt everywhere.

Do you have a similar story to share? If so, please reach out to the reporter at tmartinelli@businessinsider.com.