In a major policy shift announced Friday, the Trump administration will require most foreigners currently living in the United States to leave the country and apply for a green card from their home nations, ending a practice that has been in place for more than 50 years.
The new rule, issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), affects hundreds of thousands of people each year who hold temporary visas — including students, workers, tourists, refugees, and asylum seekers — and wish to become lawful permanent residents.
For decades, individuals already in the U.S. with legal status could complete the entire green card process without leaving the country. That option is now being sharply limited. According to the agency, people on temporary visas are expected to return home when their authorized stay ends, and applying for permanent residency should not begin while they are in the United States.
Exceptions and Uncertainty
USCIS stated that exceptions would be made only in “extraordinary circumstances,” with immigration officers deciding on a case-by-case basis. In an email to The Associated Press, the agency added that individuals who provide a significant “economic benefit” or serve the “national interest” might be allowed to stay and apply from within the U.S.
However, the announcement left many key questions unanswered. The agency did not specify when the policy would take effect, whether applicants would have to remain abroad for the entire process, or how it would affect people whose applications are already in progress.
A Broader Effort to Restrict Legal Immigration
This move is the latest in a series of Trump administration actions designed to make legal immigration more difficult. Senior officials have openly stated their goal of reducing the number of people who gain permanent residency, which often leads to U.S. citizenship.
Doug Rand, a former senior advisor at USCIS during the Biden administration, said roughly 600,000 people already in the U.S. apply for green cards each year. “The goal of this policy is very explicit,” Rand said. “They want fewer people to get permanent residency.”
Strong Criticism from Immigration Groups
Immigration lawyers, aid organizations, and advocates quickly condemned the change. They warned that it could create major problems, especially for people from countries where U.S. embassies are closed or visa processing is heavily delayed or restricted.
“If families are told that the non-citizen family member must return to his or her country of origin to process their immigrant visa, but immigrant visas are not being processed there, it’s a Catch-22,” said World Relief, a humanitarian organization. “These policies will effectively create an indefinite separation of families.”
Shev Dalal-Dheini of the American Immigration Lawyers Association called the policy a major reversal of long-standing practice. “This all applies very broadly to anyone seeking a green card,” she said. That includes spouses of U.S. citizens, doctors and other skilled professionals on work visas, students, and people with humanitarian protections.
Wait times at some U.S. consulates abroad can exceed a year, making the process even more difficult. In places like Afghanistan, where the U.S. Embassy has been closed since 2021, applicants may have nowhere to go.
Confusion Among Immigrants
Legal aid groups reported receiving worried calls from clients on Friday. Jessie De Haven, a senior attorney with the California Immigration Project, said it remains unclear exactly who will be affected.
“It’s really hard to tell how this is going to be applied,” De Haven said. “I do think it might have a chilling effect on people applying.”
USCIS described the change as a return to the “original intent of the law” and the closing of a loophole. However, many immigration experts argue that adjusting status from within the U.S. had become a common and accepted practice for decades.
As attorneys and immigrants try to understand the full impact of the new guidance, the policy has already created widespread confusion and concern.