Trump Administration Tightens Green Card Rules, Requiring Many Applicants to Leave US

The Trump administration has announced a major shift in immigration policy that would require many foreigners seeking permanent residency in the United States to leave the country and apply for green cards from their home nations, ending a practice that has been in place for decades.

The policy change, unveiled Friday by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), has sparked concern among immigration lawyers, aid organisations and affected communities who warn it could create uncertainty and family separation.

For more than 50 years, many foreign nationals legally residing in the United States have been allowed to apply for lawful permanent residency without leaving the country. That process, known as adjustment of status, has been available to a wide range of applicants, including spouses of US citizens, refugees, asylum seekers, students and workers on temporary visas.

Under the new guidance, foreigners in the US on temporary visas who wish to become permanent residents will generally be required to return to their home countries to complete the process, unless they qualify for what USCIS described as “extraordinary circumstances.” The agency said immigration officers would determine who meets that threshold.

“Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the US for a short time and for a specific purpose,” USCIS said in a statement. “Their visit should not function as the first step in the Green Card process.”

The agency described the move as restoring “the original intent of the law” and closing what it called a loophole.

The announcement, however, left many unanswered questions. USCIS did not specify when the policy would take effect, whether applicants would need to remain abroad during the full process, or how the changes might affect pending applications.

In comments to the Associated Press, the agency suggested that applicants providing an “economic benefit” or serving the “national interest” may still be allowed to remain in the US while their cases are processed.

Immigration experts said the policy could affect hundreds of thousands of people.

Doug Rand, a former senior adviser at USCIS during the Biden administration, said roughly 600,000 people already living in the US apply for green cards each year.

“The goal of this policy is very explicit,” Rand said. “Senior officials in this administration have said over and over that they want fewer people to get permanent residency.”

Immigration attorneys and humanitarian groups warned that the policy could create serious complications, particularly for applicants from countries facing visa restrictions or where US diplomatic services are unavailable.

The humanitarian organisation World Relief said the rules could result in prolonged family separation if applicants are required to return to countries where immigrant visa processing is suspended.

Lawyers were still reviewing the policy Friday, trying to determine exactly who would be affected.

“It’s really hard to tell how this is going to be applied,” said Jessie De Haven of the California Immigration Project. “I do think it might have a chilling effect on people applying.”

Critics argue the policy risks disrupting a longstanding immigration pathway and creating fresh uncertainty for families, workers and students already living legally in the United States.