US Green Card Applicants Must Now Return to Home Countries for Processing, DHS Says
Foreigners seeking to adjust their immigration status in the United States to secure green cards will now have to do so from outside the country via the State Department, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Friday. This change has been criticized by aid groups, policy analysts, and immigration attorneys as the latest significant move by the Trump administration on immigration policy.
USCIS issued a policy memo directing officers to consider relevant factors and information on a case-by-case basis when determining whether extraordinary relief is warranted. The green card process had remained unchanged for more than 60 years.
“An alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply,” said the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees USCIS. “This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes.”
According to an analyst with the Cato Institute, more than 1 million immigrants in the US are currently waiting for their green cards. People apply for green cards in two ways: by applying at a US consulate abroad, or by applying while already in the US, known as an “adjustment of status.”
With the new policy, many green card applicants in the US will likely be required to leave while their cases are processed, particularly affecting mixed-status families nationwide. This could force applicants to leave jobs, homes, and relationships for an unknown duration. The agency is already struggling with a backlog of visa and green card cases.
It remains unclear how currently pending green card cases will be affected. HIAS, an aid group providing services to refugees and other immigrants, stated that USCIS is forcing survivors of trafficking and abused or neglected children to return to the dangerous countries they fled in order to process their applications for permanent residency.
Friday’s policy change is the latest in a series of steps taken by Donald Trump over the last year to tighten immigration. Last year, the administration moved to shorten the duration of visas for students, cultural exchange visitors, and media members. In January, the State Department announced it had revoked more than 100,000 visas in the second Trump administration. The administration has also targeted other immigrants with legal status, such as refugees and other protected groups.
Reuters contributed reporting.
