The Trump administration announces a change to U.S. green card processing that requires many foreigners who are in the country temporarily to leave the United States and apply for permanent residency from their home countries. Multiple outlets report that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issues a directive in which an “alien…temporarily” in the U.S. who wants a green card must return home to file, with limited “extraordinary circumstances” and other unspecified exceptions. The policy is presented as a way to make the immigration system operate “as the law intended,” rather than encouraging loopholes.
Immigration lawyers and advocates describe the change as disruptive and potentially slowing down applications, with some warning it could strand people outside the U.S. while cases are processed and complicate plans for families already in the U.S. Several sources note concerns that the policy could affect hundreds of thousands of applicants each year.
One report states the administration walks back an earlier directive after a May 22 USCIS memo drew “enormous backlash,” though the extent of the rollback and the exact rules that apply after the change are reported as unclear.
