US Ends In-Country Green Card Applications, Immigrants Must Return Home to Apply

For decades, immigrants already living legally in the United States could apply for permanent residency without leaving the country. That option is now gone. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Friday that all foreign nationals seeking green cards must return to their home countries and file through American embassies or consulates there. Aid organizations warn that trafficking victims and abused children will be among those forced back to the countries they fled.

New rule requires applicants to file green card applications from their home countries

USCIS announced the change on Friday, May 22, through an internal memorandum directing immigration officers to evaluate applications for “special exemptions” on a case-by-case basis. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees USCIS, framed the policy as a correction to years of institutional drift, arguing it restores the immigration system to functioning as the law originally intended, rather than continuing to allow what officials described as exploitation of procedural loopholes. USCIS added that the shift would free up administrative resources to process other immigration cases.

Previous rules allowed legal residents to apply for permanent status without departing

Under the previous system, as reported by The Hill, immigrants already inside the United States could apply for an “adjustment of status,” a process that allowed them to move between immigration categories without leaving the country. Students, holders of work authorization, and foreign nationals who married American citizens were all eligible to apply for permanent residency through this in-country route. Separately, the State Department has suspended immigration visa processing for nationals of 75 countries, a measure announced alongside the broader enforcement push.

Aid groups warn the rule will endanger trafficking victims and abused children

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), an organization with more than a century of experience assisting refugees and migrants, warned that the new requirement would place some of the most vulnerable applicants in direct danger. Under the rule, victims of human trafficking and children who experienced abuse or neglect could be compelled to return to the very countries from which they originally fled, solely to satisfy a procedural filing requirement.

Trump administration has revoked more than 100,000 visas since January

The green card rule is among the latest in a series of escalating immigration restrictions since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Over the past year, the administration has shortened the permitted duration of student visas, cultural exchange visas, and journalist visas. In January, the State Department announced it had revoked more than 100,000 visas since Trump began his second term.

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