The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday a sweeping policy shift requiring the majority of foreign nationals seeking permanent U.S. residency to apply from their home countries.
The directive fundamentally alters the pathway to securing a Green Card, effectively ending the practice of adjusting immigration status while residing temporarily within the United States.
”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,” US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spokesman Zach Kahler said in a statement.
Federal officials emphasized that temporary visas—including those for international students, seasonal workers, and tourists—are strictly intended for short-term stays, not as a backdoor to permanent residency.
”Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the US for a short time and for a specific purpose,” Kahler said. “Our system is designed for them to leave when their visit is over. Their visit should not function as the first step in the Green Card process.”
The United States issues over one million Green Cards annually. According to data reported by The Washington Post, more than half of those approvals have historically been granted to applicants who were already living inside the country under temporary legal statuses.
The administration defended the procedural overhaul as a preemptive security measure to curb visa overstays, noting that processing applications overseas mitigates enforcement challenges if a residency request is rejected.
Kahler said having Green Card seekers apply from their home nation “reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the US illegally after being denied residency.”
Under the new guidelines, foreign consular offices managed by the State Department will assume full responsibility for handling Green Card applications abroad.
The policy marks the latest in a series of restrictive immigration measures implemented by the Trump administration, which campaigned heavily on a platform of stricter border enforcement and the curtailment of various legal residency pathways.