Trump Administration Directs Most Green Card Applicants to Apply Abroad

The Trump administration on Friday issued a policy directive requiring most temporary visa holders and humanitarian parolees living in the United States to return to their home countries to apply for green cards. The memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services instructs officers to treat U.S.-based adjustment of status applications as an extraordinary form of relief.

USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler said the change returns the system to the original intent of the law.

Under the new guidance, nonimmigrants such as students, temporary workers, and tourists must generally complete the green card process abroad. The memo states that applying for adjustment of status is not inconsistent with maintaining nonimmigrant status, but lawful status alone is not sufficient to warrant favorable discretion.

The agency said individuals whose applications provide an economic benefit or serve the national interest will likely be allowed to continue processing inside the United States. H-1B visa holders and other high-skilled workers fall into this category for the near term, according to a USCIS spokesperson.

Immigration lawyers said the directive could affect hundreds of thousands of pending applications. Attorney Todd Pomerleau told ABC News the policy cannot overturn a statute through a memo and predicted swift court challenges. Shev Dalal-Dheini of the American Immigration Lawyers Association said Congress has allowed adjustment of status since the 1950s to prevent family separations and retain workers during visa backlogs.

USCIS did not specify when the change takes effect or whether applicants already in process must depart. The memo noted that officers will decide case-by-case whether extraordinary circumstances apply. Former USCIS official Doug Rand said roughly 600,000 people apply for green cards from inside the United States each year.

Aid groups warned that citizens of countries under travel restrictions or without functioning U.S. embassies could face indefinite separation from family members.