According to a report by Xinhua News Agency on May 23, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a change to a long-standing immigration policy: except in special circumstances, foreign nationals who are in the US and wish to apply for lawful permanent residence (green card) must return to their home country to submit their application.
The USCIS is part of the US Department of Homeland Security, which has also set up a review center in Atlanta to strengthen the in-depth review of applicants’ social media and background.
A green card is a document that proves a foreigner has the right to permanent residence in the US, and holders can live, work, and enjoy public benefits in the US without limit, and can leave the country for up to 180 days without needing to apply for additional permits.
For decades, foreign nationals with legal status in the US have been able to apply for green cards within the US, including spouses of US citizens, work visa holders, and student visa holders, among others. About 600,000 people apply for green cards in the US each year.
The announcement stated that whether an individual falls under special circumstances will be determined by the USCIS, and did not specify whether the policy applies to those who have already submitted green card applications. A person who has already obtained a green card through marriage confirmed to Interface News that the new policy does not affect them. The USCIS also stated in an email that individuals who can bring “economic benefits” to the US or are in the “national interest” of the US may be allowed to apply for green cards within the US, while others must leave the country to apply.
The new US green card visa policy effectively cancels the default channel for changing status within the US, and the core group affected includes H-1B/L-1 work visa holders, EB-class occupational immigrants, spouses and relatives of US citizens, and others. Humanitarian organizations are concerned that this will lead to long-term separation of family members and unemployment.
Scholars and immigration industry practitioners have warned that all holders of work visas, student visas, travel visas, and business visas in the US will only be able to adjust their status in “special circumstances”, which means that most applicants will face significant challenges in submitting their applications for status adjustment within the US.
On the other hand, “applying from one’s home country” is a huge risk for foreigners. In overseas consulates, the decisions of US visa officers are almost final, and applicants have limited opportunities to challenge the rejection through legal means. Non-immigrant visas may also be revoked.
Since taking office for the first time, US President Trump has vowed to reform the immigration system to protect national security, domestic employment, and reduce the burden on public finances, and has even referred to Haiti and African countries as “shitholes”, sparking protests from multiple countries.
He signed an executive order on his first day in office in January last year, requiring the US State Department to develop a list within 60 days of countries that may pose a threat to US national security, launch terrorist attacks in the US, spread hate speech, or maliciously exploit immigration laws.
Later, the US government announced that it would revoke the temporary legal status of 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans in the US, effective April 24. This group had entered the US legally under a plan during the Biden era and had received economic guarantees. At that time, those who did not have other legal means of staying in the US would be required to leave the country, or face deportation.
On April 30 this year, a federal judge in Boston ruled that the Trump administration’s restrictive measures on immigration applications from certain countries violated the provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that prohibits discrimination based on nationality. The lawsuit was filed by immigrants from about 20 countries, including Iran, Haiti, Venezuela, and Syria, and involved about 200 applicants.
Additionally, new rules for the H-1B visa program took effect automatically on September 21 last year. The new rules require applicants to pay a fee of $100,000 per year. The H-4 visa, which applies to spouses and family members of H-1B holders, is also affected.
The Department of Homeland Security has also revealed that the Trump administration plans to adjust the H-1B visa application process, introducing a weighted selection mechanism that prioritizes applicants with higher skill levels and better salaries in the annual quota lottery.
Last November 12, the Trump administration issued new guidelines requiring consular officers to thoroughly review whether applicants are likely to rely on US public benefits after entering the country. The evaluation criteria include age, health, family status, financial resources, education background, skills, English proficiency, and whether they have used public assistance in the past.
The guidelines aim to ensure that the US immigration system does not become a burden on taxpayers. The new rules mainly apply to immigrant visa applicants, but some experts have warned that they may also affect the visa applications of family members of US residents.
The “Golden Card” visa program launched by the Trump administration has only approved one application since it opened for applications in December 2025. The program requires individual applicants to pay $1 million, initially planned to be $5 million, and companies to pay $2 million.
Trump originally planned to replace the EB-5 investment immigration visa, which has been in place for 35 years, with the “Golden Card” program, and use the revenue to pay off federal government debt.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed that only 338 formal applications have been received so far, with 165 people paying the non-refundable application fee of $15,000, and only 59 people entering the subsequent review stage by the Department of Homeland Security.
Meanwhile, the “Birthright Citizenship” restriction order aimed at cracking down on “birth tourism” has been ruled illegal. The executive order, which took effect on January 20 last year, required the denial of citizenship to children born in the US to parents who are not US citizens or green card holders. Later, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the First Circuit Court of Appeals both ruled that this violates the “birthright citizenship” provision of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
