U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Friday a return to statutory immigration procedures, requiring foreigners temporarily in the United States who seek permanent residency to depart and apply from their home countries. The policy shift reverses decades of administrative practice that allowed many foreign nationals with legal temporary status to complete the green card process without leaving American soil.
The agency clarified the change applies to foreigners in the U.S. temporarily who want to become lawful permanent residents, except in extraordinary circumstances, with USCIS officers determining whether applicants meet those circumstances.
Restoring Legal Intent
USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler framed the change as a correction to longstanding administrative drift from congressional intent. "We're returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation's immigration system properly," Kahler said. "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. This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes."
Kahler explained that requiring noncitizens to apply from their home country reduces the need to locate and remove individuals who "decide to slip into the shadows" and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency.
Resource Allocation and Efficiency
The spokesperson emphasized the policy's impact on agency capacity. "Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers or people on tourist visas, come to the U.S. 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."
Kahler added that following the law "allows the majority of these cases to be handled by the State Department at U.S. consular offices abroad and frees up limited USCIS resources to focus on processing other cases that fall under its purview, including visas for victims of violent crime and human trafficking, naturalization applications and other priorities. The law was written this way for a reason, and despite the fact that it has been ignored for years, following it will help make our system fairer and more efficient."
Administration Position
The Trump administration's position holds that when noncitizens enter on student visas, tourist visas or temporary work status, they are supposed to leave once that term expires and that temporary permission to be in the U.S. should not serve as the first step toward obtaining a green card. Officials said the policy reflects the original intentions of the law, though lawsuits and litigation are expected to follow.
The announcement left unclear whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement will begin deporting green card applicants.
Criticism and Personal Accounts
Critics said many overstays have U.S. citizen spouses or children, pay taxes and fill labor shortages and would face long processing delays and humanitarian concerns if removed from the country. The American Civil Liberties Union did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Maye Musk reacted on X by recounting her own green card process as a Canadian immigrant. "When I wanted to get my green card, I had to have numerous vaccinations, health tests and a lung x-ray. Because I was Canadian, I had to fly to Montreal to have a lung x-ray again to confirm that it's the same person," she wrote. "However, when the x-ray had to be delivered to me at my friend's home, the delivery truck was stuck on a bridge because of thick ice. I had to stay an extra day. Nothing was easy. It took another five years before I could get citizenship. Worth it."
The policy was announced Friday, May 22, 2026, and Fox News published its report at 1:49 p.m. EDT that day. AP News said the move was part of the Trump administration's broader effort to make legal immigration more difficult for foreigners already in the U.S. and for those hoping to come.
Why This Matters:
The policy represents a fundamental reorientation of administrative resources toward statutory compliance rather than administrative convenience. By redirecting green card processing to State Department consular offices abroad, USCIS can reallocate limited enforcement capacity to higher-priority cases including visas for crime victims and naturalization applications. The change also addresses a longstanding incentive problem where temporary visa holders could use legal entry as a pathway to circumvent the intended sequence of immigration law. Critics' concerns about families and labor markets highlight the tension between humanitarian considerations and the rule of law, but the administration's position emphasizes that temporary status was never intended as a green card gateway. The policy's fiscal and operational efficiency gains depend on whether consular offices abroad can absorb the caseload without creating new bottlenecks that undermine the stated goal of a fairer, more efficient system.