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Foreigners in the U.S. who want a\u00a0green card\u00a0will need to leave and apply in their home country, the\u00a0Trump administration announced Friday, in a surprise change to a longstanding policy that sowed confusion and concern among aid groups, immigration lawyers and immigrants.<\/p>\n
For over half a century, foreign nationals with legal status have been able to apply for and complete the entire process for permanent residence in the United States \u2014 including individuals married to U.S. citizens, holders of work and student visas, and refugees and political asylum seekers, among others.<\/p>\n
The announcement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said foreigners who are in the U.S. temporarily and who want to apply to become lawful permanent residents, or green card holders, have to return home and apply there, except in \u201cextraordinary circumstances.\u201d USCIS officers would decide whether applicants meet those.<\/p>\n
\u201cNonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the U.S. 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,\u201d the agency said in a statement.<\/p>\n
It is the latest step by the Trump administration\u00a0making legal immigration more difficult\u00a0for foreigners already in the U.S. and for those hoping to come here.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal of this policy is very explicit. Senior officials in this administration have said over and over that they want fewer people to get permanent residency because permanent residency is a path to citizenship and they want to block that path for as many people as possible,\u201d said Doug Rand, a former senior advisor at USCIS during the Biden administration, who added that about 600,000 people already in the U.S. apply each year for a green card.<\/p>\n
USCIS did not say when the change would come into effect, whether individuals would be required to remain in another country throughout the entire process, or whether the policy impacts foreigners whose green card applications are already underway.<\/p>\n
In an emailed statement to the Associated Press the agency said people who provide an \u201ceconomic benefit\u201d or \u201cnational interest\u201d could likely stay in the U.S. while others would have to go abroad to apply.<\/p>\n
The changes come on top of steps the administration has already taken to restrict and limit entry for people from dozens of countries. In some cases, there are outright\u00a0bans on travel\u00a0from those countries, while people from others face\u00a0pauses in visa processing. Experts and attorneys warned that forcing people from those countries to return home to apply for a green card would result in them being barred from coming back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf families are told that the non-citizen family member must return to his or her country of origin to process their immigrant visa, but immigrant visas are not being processed there, it\u2019s a Catch-22. These policies will effectively create an indefinite separation of families,\u201d wrote World Relief, a humanitarian and refugee resettlement organization.<\/p>\n
USCIS described the change as a return to \u201cthe original intent of the law\u201d and closing a \u201cloophole.\u201d<\/p>\n
But immigration lawyers and aid groups pushed back, saying it was longstanding practice for many groups to be able to adjust their status in the U.S. and that many people couldn\u2019t return home because it wasn\u2019t safe or they had no embassy to apply at. The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, for example, has been closed since the U.S. pullout in August 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cUSCIS is trying to upend decades of processing of adjustment of status,\u201d said Shev Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. \u201cThis all applies very broadly to anyone seeking a green card\u201d.<\/p>\n
Among them could be individuals married to U.S. citizens, immigrants with humanitarian protection who are applying for a green card, and holders of\u00a0work visas\u00a0\u2014 including doctors and professionals \u2014 as well as\u00a0student\u00a0and religious visa holders, the attorney noted.<\/p>\n
At some U.S. consulates abroad, wait times for a visa appointment could take up to more than a year, said Dalal-Dheini.<\/p>\n
Immigration attorneys were picking through the policy memo and announcement Friday afternoon, trying to decipher who it would apply to.<\/p>\n
Organizations that provide legal and other assistance to immigrants said they were hearing from clients concerned about what the new guidance would mean for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to tell how this is going to be applied,\u201d said Jessie De Haven, senior staff attorney with the California Immigration Project a non profit that provides legal services to low income immigrants. \u201cI do think it might have a chilling effect on people applying.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Trump #administration #force #foreigners #apply #green #card<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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