The Trump administration is telling green card applicants to apply from abroad
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Immigrants to the US seeking a green card will have to travel to apply in their home country, the Trump administration announced on Friday, in a dramatic change to a longstanding policy that has sown confusion and concern among aid groups, immigration advocates and immigrants.
For more than half a century, foreign nationals with legal status have been able to apply for and complete the entire process of permanent residence in the United States, including spouses of US citizens, holders of work and student visas, refugees and political asylum seekers, among others.
An announcement from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said that foreign nationals who are temporarily in the US and who want to apply to become legal citizens, or green card holders, must return home and apply there, except in “exceptional circumstances.” USCIS officials will decide whether applicants meet that limit.
“Non-immigrants, such as students, temporary workers, or people using visitor visas, come to the US for a short period of time and for a specific purpose. Our program is designed for them to leave when their visit is over. Their visit should not serve as the first step in the Green Card process,” the agency said in a statement.
It is the latest move by the Trump administration to make immigration more difficult for foreign nationals already in the US and those hoping to go there.
“The intent of this policy is very clear. Senior officials in this administration have repeatedly said that they want fewer people to get permanent residency because permanent residency is a path to citizenship and they want to block that path for as many people as possible,” said Doug Rand, who was senior counsel at USCIS during the Biden administration.
He added that about 600,000 people already in the US apply each year for a green card.
USCIS did not say when the change would go into effect, whether people would be required to live in another country during the entire process or whether the policy applies to foreign nationals whose applications for green cards are already in progress.
In an emailed statement to The Associated Press, the agency said people who provide “economic benefit” or “national interest” may stay in the US, while others will have to travel abroad to apply.
These changes come on top of measures the administration has already taken to limit and restrict immigration. In some cases, there is an outright ban on travel from those countries, while foreigners face delays in visa processing.
US President Donald Trump has defended banning the entry of citizens of twelve countries and imposing strict travel restrictions on seven other countries. Trump said he is focusing on countries that pose a threat of terrorism, have a history of visa violations or do not have secure travel document systems.
Experts and lawyers have warned that forcing people from these countries to return to their homes and apply for a green card will result in them being prevented from returning.
“When families are told that a non-citizen family member must return to their home country to process their immigrant visa, but immigrant visas are not processed there, it is a Catch-22. These policies will effectively create permanent family separation,” wrote World Relief, a humanitarian and refugee resettlement organization.
Confusion about who this change applies to
USCIS described the change as a return to the “original intent of the law” and closing a “loophole.”
But immigration lawyers and aid groups have pushed back, saying it’s a longstanding practice for many groups to adjust their status in the US and that many people have been unable to return home because it was unsafe or they had no embassies to apply to. The US Embassy in Afghanistan, for example, has been closed since the US withdrawal in August 2021.
“USCIS is trying to upend decades of adjustment of status processing,” said Shev Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “All of this is very applicable to anyone looking for a green card.”
Among them would be people married to US citizens, protected immigrants applying for a green card, and holders of work visas – including doctors and professionals – as well as students and religious visa holders, Dalal-Dheini said.
At some US embassies abroad, wait times for visa appointments can take more than a year, he said.
Immigration advocates were reviewing the policy memo and announcement Friday afternoon, trying to determine who it would apply to.
Organizations that provide legal and other assistance to immigrants said they are hearing from clients who are concerned about what the new guidance will mean for them.
“It’s really hard to say how this is going to be implemented,” said Jessie De Haven, a senior staff attorney with the California Immigration Project, a nonprofit that provides legal services to low-income immigrants.
“I think it could have a negative impact on the people who apply.”
