Immigrants and their advocates and lawyers are trying to interpret a new Trump administration rule that requires people to be in their native country to apply for a green card.
On Friday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that oversees the green card system, said that only in “extraordinary circumstances” would people already in the United States be granted permanent residence. Otherwise, anyone seeking permanent U.S. residence would need to apply at an American consulate in their home country.
Immigration lawyers and advocacy organizations said over the weekend that the change would reduce green card applications. In 2024, 1.4 million green cards were issued, and more than 800,000 of the recipients were already in the United States and had their immigration status modified as part of the process.
The change announced on Friday will be of particular concern to those who are married to U.S. citizens and seeking permanent residence, said Charles Kuck, an immigration lawyer and the former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Such immigrants typically need to resolve their own immigration status before seeking a green card and they have generally been able sort out those issues while remaining in the United States.
Most applicants have been allowed to remain in the United States with their families, which can include spouses and children who are U.S. citizens, while the green card process plays out. But now remaining in the country, may be the exception. In the past, Mr. Olivares said, someone may have been asked to apply from their home country in extraordinary circumstances, like if they had been deported several times or if they had a serious criminal history.
Approval for permanent residency through a U.S. citizen relative can vary depending on the relationship, Mr. Olivares said. For a spouse, the waiting period could be about a year; for siblings it can take upward of five years; and for parents, it could take as long as a decade.