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Green Card applications to be made from home country: USCIS
The policy would require most students, tourists, and temporary workers seeking permanent residency to complete the process through U.S. consulates abroad.
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Malvika Choudhary - Fri, 22, May 2026
- 12:52 EDT
- 44
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). / IANS
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on May 22 said temporary visa holders seeking U.S. permanent residency must apply from their home countries except in extraordinary circumstances.
USCIS on May 22 announced a new policy memo directing immigration officers to limit “adjustment of status” approvals inside the United States and instead require most applicants to complete consular processing abroad.
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The agency said the policy reflects “long-standing immigration law and immigration court decisions” and directs officers to determine on a case-by-case basis whether applicants qualify for adjustment of status inside the United States under “extraordinary circumstances.”
Under the policy, nonimmigrants already in the United States – including students, temporary workers, and tourists – who decide they want to remain permanently in the country would generally need to apply for immigrant visas through the U.S. Department of State outside the country.
USCIS is applying long-standing law and prior court decisions to require certain aliens with temporary visas who decide they want to permanently reside in the U.S. to return to their home countries to apply for permanent visas through the @StateDept.
— USCIS (@USCIS) May 22, 2026
We're returning to the… pic.twitter.com/E2AFZkds5m
“We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly,” USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler said in a statement.
“From now on, an alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances,” Kahler said. “This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes.”
Kahler said the policy would reduce the number of people who remain in the United States unlawfully after being denied residency.
In a separate statement, USCIS said the immigration system was designed for temporary visa holders to leave the country once their authorized stay ends and “should not function as the first step in the Green Card process.”
The agency said routing most such applications through consular processing abroad would allow USCIS to focus resources on other immigration matters, including naturalization applications and cases involving victims of violent crime and human trafficking.
Adjustment of status allows eligible individuals already in the United States to apply for lawful permanent residency without leaving the country, while consular processing requires applicants to complete the immigrant visa process through a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.
USCIS said the guidance is based on provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act and prior immigration court rulings.
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