If you are in the U.S. in lawful non-immigrant status, you can either extend your current status, change your status to another non-immigrant status, or adjust your status to permanent residence.
Extension/Change of Status
In order to extend your current status or change your status to another non-immigrant status, you must have been maintaining legal status without any gap/break. Specifically:
----- You must have lawfully entered the U.S. with a non-immigrant visa;
----- Your non-immigrant status must be currently valid;
----- You must have not violated the terms of your non-immigrant status (for example, not engaging in any unauthorized employment); and
----- You must have not violated any immigration or criminal law.
Adjustment of Status
1. If you are eligible to adjust status to permanent residence based on one of the grounds described under "Permanent (Immigrant) Visa", you can file the following applications concurrently with your I-485 application:
----- I-765 Application for Employment Authorization (work permit).
----- I-131 Application for Travel Document (advance parole).
2. You are ineligible for adjustment of status if:
----- You were not admitted or paroled into the U.S. after being inspected by a CBP officer;
----- You were admitted as a crewman;
----- You were admitted without a visa in transit;
----- You were admitted as a visitor under the Visa Waiver Program (unless you are an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen);
----- You were admitted with an S visa;
----- You were admitted as K-1 fiance(e) but did not marry the petitioning U.S. citizen within the 90-day limit;
----- You are already a conditional permanent resident and seeks adjustment on another basis;
----- You are or were a J-1 or J-2 exchange visitor and have not complied with the 2-year foreign residence requirement (unless such requirement has been waived); or
----- You are employed in the U.S. without authorization or you no longer maintain lawful status in the U.S. (unless you are an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen).
