United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the agency that decides most immigration applications and petitions filed inside the United States. To decide cases consistently, its officers follow written guidance. Two names come up often when people read about that guidance: the Adjudicator's Field Manual and the USCIS Policy Manual.
The Adjudicator's Field Manual, usually shortened to the AFM, is an older internal manual. It collected the policies and procedures that USCIS officers used when reviewing many kinds of cases. For years it was the day to day reference for adjudicators.
The USCIS Policy Manual is the agency's centralized and current statement of its policies. It is written in a single organized structure, it is updated over time, and it is available to the public online. USCIS treats the Policy Manual as the controlling source of its policy guidance.
USCIS is retiring the AFM and moving its content into the Policy Manual. According to the agency, it is working to update and incorporate all AFM content into the Policy Manual. Until that work is finished, any AFM material that has not yet been rewritten has been moved into PDF files, and each file is placed with the Policy Manual part that covers the same subject.
The agency has also explained how to handle a conflict. If a provision in the Policy Manual conflicts with remaining AFM content or with a policy memorandum, the Policy Manual is the version that prevails. In plain terms, when the sources disagree, follow the Policy Manual.
USCIS publishes a crosswalk document that lists the remaining AFM chapters and points to where each one now sits in the Policy Manual. That document was last updated on July 13, 2026.
The Policy Manual is divided into twelve volumes. Each volume covers a broad area of immigration law, and each volume is further divided into parts, chapters, and sections. When you see a citation such as Volume 2, Part H, it points to a specific part inside one of these volumes.
The twelve volumes are:
Volume 1: General Policies and Procedures
Volume 2: Nonimmigrants
Volume 3: Humanitarian Protection and Parole
Volume 4: Refugees and Asylees
Volume 5: Adoptions
Volume 6: Immigrants
Volume 7: Adjustment of Status
Volume 8: Admissibility
Volume 9: Waivers and Other Forms of Relief
Volume 10: Employment Authorization
Volume 11: Travel and Identity Documents
Volume 12: Citizenship and Naturalization
The list below follows the official USCIS crosswalk. Each entry names a remaining AFM chapter, followed by the Policy Manual part or parts that now hold the corresponding content, with a link to each part. Some AFM chapters map to several parts, and some parts appear under more than one chapter.
Chapter 10, An Overview of the Adjudication Process: Volume 1, Part A (Public Services), Volume 1, Part C (Biometrics Collection and Security Checks), Volume 1, Part E (Adjudications), Volume 1, Part F (Motions and Appeals), and Volume 6, Part D (Surviving Relatives).
Chapter 11, Evidence: Volume 1, Part E (Adjudications).
Chapter 15, Interview Techniques: Volume 1, Part E (Adjudications).
Chapter 20, Immigrants in General: Volume 6, Part A (Immigrant Policies and Procedures) and Volume 8, Part G (Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility).
Chapter 21, Family-based Petitions and Applications: Volume 1, Part I (Deferred Action), Volume 3, Part F (Parolees), Volume 6, Part B (Family-Based Immigrants), Volume 6, Part C (Adam Walsh Act), Volume 6, Part D (Surviving Relatives), and Volume 7, Part P (Other Adjustment Programs).
Chapter 23, Adjustment of Status to Lawful Permanent Resident: Volume 7, Part D (Family-Based Adjustment), Volume 7, Part E (Employment-Based Adjustment), Volume 7, Part I (Adjustment Based on Violence Against Women Act), Volume 7, Part K (Crime Victim-Based Adjustment), and Volume 7, Part P (Other Adjustment Programs).
Chapter 24, Legalization: Volume 7, Part N (Legalization).
Chapter 31, Petitions for Temporary Workers (H Classifications): Volume 2, Part H (Specialty Occupation Workers, H-1B and E-3), Volume 2, Part I (Temporary Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Workers, H-2), and Volume 2, Part J (Trainees, H-3).
Chapter 34, Other Employment Authorized Nonimmigrants (E, I, and R Classifications): Volume 2, Part G (Treaty Traders and Treaty Investors, E-1 and E-2) and Volume 2, Part H (Specialty Occupation Workers, H-1B and E-3).
Chapter 36, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: Volume 6, Part K (CNMI Resident Status).
Chapter 37, Nonimmigrants Intending to Adjust Status (K and V Classifications): Volume 2, Part Q (Nonimmigrants Intending to Adjust Status, K and V).
Chapter 38, Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure: Volume 3, Part J (Temporary Protected Status).
Chapter 39, Victims of Trafficking in Persons and other Crimes: Volume 3, Part C (Victims of Crimes).
Chapter 40, Grounds of Inadmissibility under Section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act: Volume 8, Part I (Illegal Entrants and Other Immigration Violators), Volume 8, Part O (Noncitizens Unlawfully Present), and Volume 8, Part P (Noncitizens Present After Previous Immigration Violation).
Chapter 43, Consent to Reapply After Deportation or Removal: Volume 9, Part S (Consent to Reapply).
Chapter 52, Reentry Permits: Volume 11, Part C (Reentry Permits).
Chapter 53, Refugee Travel Documents: Volume 11, Part D (Refugee Travel Documents).
Chapter 54, Advance Parole Documents and Boarding Letters: Volume 11, Part E (Advance Parole Documents).
For most questions, the Policy Manual is now the place to look first. It reflects the agency's current policy, and USCIS updates it as the law and its procedures change.
Some subjects still rely on older AFM material that has not been fully rewritten. In those cases, the remaining AFM content sits as a PDF with the Policy Manual part that covers the topic, so you may see both when you open that part. When the two say different things, the Policy Manual is the version that governs.
A practical way to use the crosswalk is to start with the AFM chapter you remember, follow it to the matching Policy Manual part or parts, and then read the current text there. Because a single AFM chapter can map to several parts, it helps to open each linked part rather than assume one covers everything.
This article is general educational information about U.S. immigration law and USCIS guidance, current as of July 2026, and not legal advice. Agency guidance changes over time, and the Policy Manual controls where it conflicts with older material. Every situation depends on its own facts.
