US forces people to return home to apply for green card
The Trump administration made a surprise change in its long-standing policy, announcing that foreigners who want a green card in the USA must leave their home country and apply.
For more than half a century, foreign nationals with legal status have been able to apply for permanent residence in the United States and complete the entire process, including individuals married to U.S. citizens, work and student visa holders, refugees, and political asylum seekers.
In the announcement made by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), it was stated that foreigners or green card holders who are temporarily in America and want to apply for a legal permanent residence permit must return home and apply there, except for “extraordinary circumstances”.
“Nonimmigrants, such as students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the United States for a short period of time and for a specific purpose. Our system is designed for them to leave when their visit is completed. Their visit should not be considered the first step in the Green Card process,” the agency said in a statement Friday local time. he said.
This is the latest step by the Trump administration to make legal immigration more difficult for aliens already in the United States and those hoping to come here.
“The intent of this policy is very clear. Senior officials in this administration have said repeatedly that they want fewer people to become permanent residents because permanent resident is a pathway to citizenship and they want to close that pathway for as many people as possible,” said Doug Rand, a former senior advisor at USCIS during the Biden administration. he said.
Roughly 600,000 people currently in the United States apply for green cards each year, Rand said.
USCIS did not say when the change would go into effect, whether individuals would be required to stay in another country for the entire process, or whether the policy would affect aliens who are still applying for green cards.
In an emailed statement to The Associated Press, the agency said people who provide “economic benefit” or “national interest” will likely be able to stay in the United States, while others will have to go abroad to apply.
The changes come on top of steps the administration has already taken to restrict and limit the entry of people from dozens of countries.
USCIS described the change as a return to “the original intent of the law” and closing a “loophole.”
But immigration lawyers and advocacy groups have pushed back, saying it’s a long-standing practice for many groups to adjust their status in the United States.
“USCIS is trying to overturn the decades-old adjustment-of-status process,” said Shev Dalal-Dheini of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
“All of this applies broadly to anyone who wants a green card.”
Those affected may include people married to U.S. citizens, humanitarian protection immigrants applying for green cards, and work visa holders, including doctors and professionals, as well as student and religious visa holders, the lawyer said.
