USCIS tightens rules, foreigners must leave US to apply for green cards: Here’s the breakdown

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a major change in immigration rules on Friday that will affect thousands of people seeking permanent residency.

What is changing?

Until now, many people entering the United States on temporary visas (such as tourist, student or work visas) could apply for the green cards from within the country through a process called Adjustment of Status.

With the new policy, this will no longer be possible in most cases. People will have to return to their home country and process their green cards through a U.S. embassy or consulate (consular processing), except in very specific extraordinary circumstances.

USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler clearly explained the reason for the change:

"We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly. 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."

Why are they taking this action?

According to the USCIS, this new rule seeks to close "some gaps" that allowed temporary visas to practically become a first step toward permanent residency.

Kahler noted, "Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the U.S. for a short time and for a specific purpose. Their visit should not function as the first step in the green card process."

The agency argues that following the original law will allow freeing up resources to process higher-priority cases, such as visas for victims of human trafficking, violent crimes and citizenship applications.