USCIS has issued a new policy directing officers to deny most green card applications filed inside the US, requiring visa holders to leave the country and apply through a consulate abroad instead.
What USCIS Just Announced
US Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a policy memo this week directing immigration officers to deny most adjustment of status applications filed by people who are currently inside the United States on temporary visas, including student visas, work visas, and tourist visas.
Under the new policy, people who want a green card and are currently in the US on a nonimmigrant visa will generally be required to leave the country and apply through consular processing at a US embassy or consulate in their home country, except in what USCIS calls “extraordinary circumstances.”
“From now on, an alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a green card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances,” said USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler in the agency’s announcement.
This is not a minor procedural update. It is a fundamental change to how legal immigration has worked in the United States for decades, and it affects hundreds of thousands of people who are currently in the middle of the green card process.
What Adjustment of Status Is, and Why It Matters
Adjustment of status is the process by which a person who is already inside the United States applies to become a lawful permanent resident, a green card holder, without having to leave the country. It is the path used by millions of immigrants: people who came on student visas, work visas, or other nonimmigrant visas and later became eligible for permanent residency through employment, marriage to a US citizen, or family sponsorship.
The alternative, consular processing, requires the applicant to leave the US, attend an interview at a US consulate abroad, and wait for approval before returning. For many people, that means leaving their job, their home, their family, and their established life in the United States for an indefinite period.
For some people, leaving the United States triggers what is known as a bar to reentry. Anyone who has been in the US without authorization for more than 180 days and then leaves can be barred from returning for three years. Anyone who has been unlawfully present for more than one year and leaves can face a ten-year bar. Under the new policy, people who are told to leave and apply abroad may trigger exactly those bars and be unable to return even if their green card application is ultimately approved.
Who Is Affected
The people most directly affected by this policy change are nonimmigrants currently in the US who have a pending or approvable green card petition. That includes people in situations like these.
Someone who came to the US on an H-1B work visa, whose employer sponsored them for a green card, and who has been waiting in the employment-based backlog for years. Under the previous policy, they could file for adjustment of status here. Under the new policy, they may be required to leave.
Someone who came on a student visa, graduated, got a job, married a US citizen, and has an approved spousal petition. Previously they could adjust status here. Now they may have to leave.
Someone who entered the US legally, whose visa has since expired, but who has a family petition approved and has been waiting for a visa number to become available. The new policy could require them to leave and apply abroad, potentially triggering the unlawful presence bars described above.
The policy applies broadly to nonimmigrants. It does not, based on the current memo, appear to affect people who are already lawful permanent residents, people with certain humanitarian statuses, or people who entered as refugees or asylees.
What USCIS Says the Policy Is For
USCIS frames the change as a return to the original intent of immigration law, arguing that adjustment of status has been used as a “loophole” that allows people to sidestep the system designed for them.
“Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the US 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.”
The agency argues that requiring people to apply abroad frees up USCIS resources and allows the State Department to handle more cases through consulates, where the government has, in its view, more control over the process.
What the policy does not address is the practical reality for people who have built lives in the United States over years or decades, who have US citizen children, who have mortgages and jobs and community ties, and who would face significant hardship, and in some cases permanent separation from family, by being required to leave.
The Risks of Leaving: The Unlawful Presence Bars
This is the part of the new policy that immigration attorneys are most concerned about, and it is the part that USCIS’s announcement does not explain.
If someone has been in the United States without valid status, even briefly, leaving the country to apply at a consulate can trigger bars to reentry that are very difficult to overcome.
The three-year bar applies to anyone who accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence in the US and then departed. The ten-year bar applies to anyone who accrued more than one year of unlawful presence and then departed. These bars kick in at the moment of departure, meaning that a person could leave the US to comply with the new USCIS policy and find themselves unable to return, even if their green card application is ultimately approved.
There is a waiver process for these bars, but it is lengthy, uncertain, and not available to everyone. And under the current administration’s enforcement posture, approval is far from guaranteed.
If you are in the United States on a visa that has expired, or if your status is in any way complicated, you should not leave the country to comply with this policy without first speaking with an experienced immigration attorney. The consequences of leaving can be permanent.
What to Do Right Now
If you have a pending adjustment of status application, do not withdraw it. Do not abandon your application based on this announcement before speaking with an attorney. Applications that are already pending may be processed differently from new applications, and there may be arguments available that your specific situation qualifies as an “extraordinary circumstance.”
If you were planning to file for adjustment of status, consult with an attorney before filing or before making any decisions about travel. The policy is new, the regulations governing it have not changed, and legal challenges to this kind of sweeping policy change are likely. Courts have blocked similar moves by this administration before.
If you are on a visa that is expiring soon and you have a path to a green card, act now. The window for filing an adjustment of status application inside the United States may be closing, and having an application on file before a policy takes full effect can make a significant difference.
The immigration landscape is changing faster than at any point in recent memory. Decisions made in the coming weeks could have consequences that last years or decades. This is not the moment to navigate alone.
Powers Law Group Is Here
Powers Law Group represents individuals and families across Texas navigating green card applications, adjustment of status petitions, consular processing, and complex immigration situations involving visa transitions. If this policy change affects your situation, contact us today to understand your options before making any decisions.
Sources
- US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Policy Memo: Adjustment of Status and Consular Processing, May 2026. https://www.uscis.gov
- American Immigration Council, Adjustment of Status vs. Consular Processing: What’s the Difference?, 2024. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org
- National Immigration Law Center, Unlawful Presence and the Three and Ten Year Bars, 2025. https://www.nilc.org
- American Immigration Lawyers Association, Statement on USCIS Adjustment of Status Policy Memo, May 2026. https://www.aila.org
- Boundless Immigration, How Adjustment of Status Works, 2025. https://www.boundless.com
- Immigration Equality, Consular Processing: Risks and Requirements, 2025. https://immigrationequality.org
- The New York Times, Trump Administration Tightens Rules on Path to Green Card for Visa Holders, May 2026. https://www.nytimes.com
- Reuters, USCIS Policy Change Requires Most Visa Holders to Apply for Green Cards Abroad, May 2026. https://www.reuters.com
- Powers Law Group, The Senate Just Approved $70 Billion for ICE and Border Patrol, April 2026. https://www.rubypowerslaw.com
- Powers Law Group, The Raids Are Getting Quieter. The Pressure Is Getting Worse., April 2026. https://www.rubypowerslaw.com
