USCIS Policy Change Requires Most Green Card Applicants to Apply from Abroad

Most people seeking green cards will now need to apply from outside of the United States following a sweeping policy change laid out by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services agency on Friday.

Under the new policy, people in the United States on temporary visas, such as for work, tourism or study, who wish to obtain permanent residence will have to leave the US and complete the procedure at a consulate in their country of origin.

"From now on, an alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances," USCIS Spokesman Zach Kahler said.

"This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes. When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency,” Kahler added.

Previously, migrants on temporary visas could seek to change their status to permanent residence once they met the requirements, for reasons such as marriage, employment or family ties.

Applying for a green card can take months or longer, meaning people could now be forced to leave their families or jobs whilst the process is ongoing.

Immigration lawyers have been scrambling to make sense of the announcement and any possible exemptions that could be granted, while aid groups have noted that many people would be unable to return home and go through the consular process due to safety issues or because they did not have an embassy to apply at.

Shev Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the USCIS was "trying to upend decades of processing of adjustment of status," per the Associated Press.

“It’s really hard to tell how this is going to be applied,” Jessie De Haven, senior staff attorney with the California Immigration Project, a non-profit that provides legal support to immigrants, added. “I do think it might have a chilling effect on people applying.”

The change comes as part of a broader push by the Trump administration to clamp down on immigration, tightening legal pathways whilst ramping up measures aimed at curbing illegal entry.