Trump Administration Changes Green Card Application Process

Foreign nationals living in the United States seeking permanent residency must now leave the country and apply from their home countries. This new policy under President Donald Trump’s administration is a significant shift from a longstanding practice, causing confusion and concern among support groups, immigration lawyers, and immigrants.

For over fifty years, legal foreign citizens, including spouses of U.S. citizens, work and student visa holders, refugees, and political asylum seekers, could apply and complete their permanent residency process within the United States. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that foreigners temporarily in the U.S. who wish to become legal permanent residents or green card holders must return to their home country to apply unless they meet ‘extraordinary circumstances’ criteria. However, USCIS did not clarify these circumstances. USCIS officials will decide if applicants meet the conditions.

USCIS stated, “Nonimmigrants, such as students, temporary workers, or tourists, come to the U.S. for a short period with a specific purpose. Our system requires them to leave when their visit concludes. Their visit should not be the initial step in the green card process.” This move is the latest in the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict legal immigration for foreigners already in the U.S. and those seeking entry.

The goal is clear: Officials want fewer people acquiring permanent residency, which leads to citizenship, aiming to block this path for many.

Doug Rand, a senior advisor at USCIS during Biden’s administration, highlighted that around 600,000 individuals already in the U.S. apply for a green card annually. USCIS did not specify when the change would take effect, the requirement for staying abroad through the process, or its impact on pending residency applications.

USCIS mentioned that applicants contributing economically or serving ‘national interests’ might remain in the U.S., whereas others need to apply from abroad. This adds to the administration’s steps to limit entry from numerous countries, which in some cases includes bans on citizens’ arrivals or pauses in visa processes. Experts warned that forcing applicants from these countries to return home could prevent their re-entry.

Organizations like World Relief underscored that if families must send non-citizen members to their home country where visas are not processed, it’s an indefinite dead-end, leading to prolonged family separations. USCIS described the change as a return to ‘the original intent of the law’ and closing a ‘loophole.’

Immigration attorneys and aid groups opposed the change, noting the long-standing practice where various groups adjust their status within the U.S. Some cannot safely return to their home countries or lack an embassy for the application, such as Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal in August 2021. Shev Dalal-Dheini from the American Immigration Lawyers Association argued that disrupting the status adjustment process affects those seeking green cards broadly, including U.S. citizen spouses, humanitarian visa holders, and work visa holders.

In some foreign U.S. consulates, visa appointment wait times might exceed a year, stated Dalal-Dheini. Immigration attorneys were examining the policy memo and announcement to determine applicability.

Legal and other assistance groups reported concerns from clients confused about the new guidance’s implications. Jessie De Haven from California Immigration Project, a nonprofit offering legal services to low-income immigrants, expressed uncertainty about the policy’s application, fearing it could deter applicants.