The Trump administration has unveiled a significant shift in immigration policy, requiring foreigners seeking a green card to return to their home countries to apply, marking a departure from a long-standing practice.
For over 50 years, individuals with legal status in the US, including those married to American citizens and those on work, student, or refugee visas, have been able to complete their permanent residency applications within the United States.
However, according to an announcement by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), those temporarily residing in the US wishing to become lawful permanent residents, known as green card holders, must now apply from abroad unless they qualify for “extraordinary circumstances”.
“Nonimmigrants, such as students, temporary workers, or tourists, are expected to enter the US for limited durations and specific purposes. Our immigration framework anticipates their departure once their visit concludes. Their stay should not serve as an initial step towards obtaining a Green Card,” the agency emphasized in a statement released Friday, local time.
This move represents the latest effort by the Trump administration to tighten the processes surrounding legal immigration for those both within the US and those aspiring to enter.
Doug Rand, who formerly served as a senior advisor at USCIS during the Biden administration, remarked that the intention behind this policy modification is “very explicit”.
“Senior officials in this administration have said over and over 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,” he said.
Rand said about 600,000 people already in the US apply each year for a green card.
USCIS did not say when the change would come into effect, whether individuals would be required to remain in another country throughout the entire process, or whether the policy impacts foreigners whose green card applications are already underway.
In an emailed statement to the Associated Press, the agency said people who provide an “economic benefit” or “national interest” could likely stay in the US, while others would have to go abroad to apply.
The changes come on top of steps the administration has already taken to restrict and limit entry for people from dozens of countries.
USCIS described the change as a return to “the original intent of the law” and closing a “loophole”.
But immigration lawyers and aid groups pushed back, saying it was longstanding practice for many groups to be able to adjust their status in the US.
“USCIS is trying to upend decades of processing of adjustment of status,” said Shev Dalal-Dheini from the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
“This all applies very broadly to anyone seeking a green card”.
Among those affected could be individuals married to US citizens, immigrants with humanitarian protection who are applying for a green card, and holders of work visas — including doctors and professionals — as well as student and religious visa holders, the lawyer noted.
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