The United States on Friday said most immigrants seeking a green card will have to leave the country and apply at a US embassy or consulate abroad, closing a loophole that had let some visa holders and visitors pursue permanent residency without departing.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services said the new guidance requires people seeking a change in status to use consular processing outside the country except in extraordinary circumstances. Students, temporary workers and people on tourist visas will generally have to go through the Department of State from outside the United States, the agency said.
The move lands in a system already stretched thin. Obtaining a green card can take months to several years, and there are currently more than a million legal immigrants waiting for approval on adjustment-of-status applications, according to the Cato Institute's director of immigration studies. USCIS said the guidance would help free up resources so officers can focus on other immigration cases.
Zach Kahler said the change returns the law to its original intent. “We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly,” he said. “From now on, an alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a green card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances.”
The Department of Homeland Security took an even harder line on X, saying, “The era of abusing our nation’s immigration system is over.” A USCIS spokesperson said people whose applications provide an economic benefit or are otherwise in the national interest will likely be able to keep moving forward, while others may be asked to apply abroad depending on their individual circumstances.
The policy is part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to curb illegal immigration and could affect pending green card applications. Last year, the administration moved to shorten the duration of visas for some students, cultural exchange visitors and media workers, and in January the State Department said it had revoked more than 100,000 visas since Trump returned to office.
Advocacy groups criticized the change and said it could push vulnerable people back into unsafe or unstable conditions, including survivors of trafficking and abused or neglected children. USCIS also said officers should weigh all relevant factors case by case when deciding whether someone deserves the extraordinary relief that would let them stay in the United States while applying.
For applicants already in line, the immediate question is not whether the process is harder. It is that many will now have to leave the country to finish it, unless they can persuade the government their case is one of the rare ones worth making an exception for.
