Trump administration says visa holders seeking green cards must apply in home countries, in major change

NBC News via MSN ^ | 5/22/26 | Daniella Silva

[Libloather]

The Trump administration said Friday that people with temporary visas seeking to adjust their immigration status to obtain green cards must return to their home countries to “do so through consular processing,” in a major change from current practice.

“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,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson Zach Kahler said in a statement. “When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency.”

The statement said that those who come to America on non-immigrant visas, including students, temporary workers and tourists, are expected to be in the United States for a short time and for a specific purpose.

“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 said.

“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,” he said in the statement.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Conspiracy; History; Travel
KEYWORDS: aliens; green; greencards; home; visa

[wjcsux]

“LOL. Yeah, that’s the law asshat. “But we’ve always done it this way! Not Fair!”

When I brought my wife here from China, that’s exactly what we had to do.

[Vaduz]

A good one indeed