Trump Admin Forces Green Card Applicants to Apply Abroad

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has announced a sweeping policy change requiring foreigners already living in the United States to leave the country and apply for green cards from their home countries, fundamentally altering a decades-old immigration pathway that has been used by the majority of new permanent residents. The move, announced on May 22, 2026, could disrupt the lives of over 1.2 million backlogged applicants and millions more currently navigating the U.S. legal immigration system, according to NPR.

What the Policy Changes

On May 21, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199, declaring that adjustment of status (AOS) — the process by which foreign nationals already inside the U.S. apply for lawful permanent residence — is “a matter of discretion and administrative grace, and an extraordinary relief” rather than a standard pathway. USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler stated that “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,” as reported by the BBC.

The Department of Homeland Security posted on X: “The era of abusing our nation’s immigration system is over.” USCIS said the policy is designed to return to “the original intent of the law” and close what the administration describes as a loophole, according to Al Jazeera.

Scale of the Impact

The policy represents one of the most significant restrictions on legal immigration in decades. In fiscal year 2024, approximately 782,770 of 1,356,760 people (58%) who gained permanent residence did so through adjustment of status, according to Forbes. Over 1.2 million applications are currently backlogged.

The change broadly affects H-1B visa holders, L-1 workers, students on F-1 visas, tourists on B-1/B-2 visas, spouses of U.S. citizens, individuals with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and humanitarian protection recipients. David J. Bier, Director of Immigration Studies at the Cato Institute, described the policy as “a radical expansion of DHS’s ‘quiet quitting’ on legal immigration,” adding that “USCIS has gone from the ‘quiet-quit’ to walking out on 1.2 million green card applicants.”

Confusion and Uncertainty

USCIS has not specified when the change takes effect, whether pending applications will be affected, or how long applicants must remain abroad. The agency stated that people who provide an “economic benefit” or are in the “national interest” could likely stay, but no criteria for these exceptions have been published.

Immigration attorneys and advocacy groups have expressed alarm. “USCIS is trying to upend decades of processing of adjustment of status,” said Shev Dalal-Dheini, Senior Director of Government Relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, speaking to NPR. “This all applies very broadly to anyone seeking a green card.”

Doug Rand, a former senior advisor at USCIS during the Biden administration, told NPR: “The goal of this policy 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.”

Broader Immigration Crackdown

This policy is the latest and most sweeping in a series of actions by the Trump administration to restrict immigration. Since January 2026, the administration has revoked over 100,000 visas, imposed travel bans on citizens from approximately 40 countries, paused visa processing for 75 countries, and halved green card approvals. The administration has also shortened visa durations for students and exchange visitors and eliminated Temporary Protected Status for nearly 1 million immigrants.

Humanitarian and Practical Concerns

Critics warn that forcing applicants to return to their home countries could create impossible situations. World Relief, a humanitarian organization, noted that if immigrant visas are not being processed in an applicant’s home country, “it’s a Catch-22. These policies will effectively create an indefinite separation of families.”

Leaving the U.S. could also trigger 3- or 10-year bars on reentry based on unlawful presence accrual, and consular denials are largely immune from judicial review. U.S. consulates abroad are already severely backlogged — as of April 2026, L-1 and H-1B visa appointments for new applicants in India were limited to 2027.

Legal Challenges Expected

Immigration attorneys widely expect the memo to be challenged in court under the Administrative Procedure Act, arguing that USCIS issued a policy memo rather than going through formal rulemaking and that the memo contradicts the plain text of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, which ended Chevron deference to federal agencies, could allow courts to strike down the memo as contrary to the statute.

What to Watch For

As legal challenges mount and implementation details remain unclear, millions of immigrants and their families face tremendous uncertainty. Michael Valverde, a former senior USCIS official who served under both Republican and Democratic administrations, told the BBC: “This is a largely unprecedented move that will limit lawful immigration to the US greatly. People who followed the rules faithfully now face tremendous uncertainty.”