The administration of Donald Trump has announced a major change to US immigration processing that will require most people seeking permanent residency to apply from their own country.
The new guidance was issued on Friday, 22 May 2026 by US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of Homeland Security.
Under the policy, many people in the US on temporary visas, including students, tourists and temporary workers, will no longer be allowed to complete Green Card applications while remaining in the country. Instead, they will be expected to return to their home countries and apply through US embassies or consulates abroad.
USCIS said exceptions may still apply in “extraordinary circumstances” or for visa categories that legally allow “dual intent”, where a person can hold temporary status while also seeking permanent residency.
“An alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement released on X.
USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler said the administration was “returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly”.
He added: “This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivising loopholes.”
The agency said the move is intended to reduce visa overstays and shift more immigration processing to US diplomatic missions overseas. Immigration officers have also been instructed to review applications case by case, including factors such as visa violations, unauthorised employment and overstaying permitted periods of stay.
The policy could affect more than one million immigrants currently waiting for adjustment-of-status Green Card decisions inside the US, according to figures cited by the Cato Institute.
Immigration advocates and legal groups criticised the decision, saying it may separate families and disrupt employment, education and long-term residency plans.
Michael Valverde, a former senior USCIS official, told CBS News the measure would “disrupt the plans of hundreds of thousands of families and employers annually”.
HIAS, a refugee support organisation, said the policy could also affect trafficking survivors and vulnerable children by requiring some applicants to return to countries they previously fled.
Over the past year, the Trump administration has introduced visa limitations affecting citizens from nearly 40 countries and a separate pause on immigrant visa issuances involving 75 countries. However, the government has not publicly confirmed the full list of countries in the latest reports, and there was no specific confirmation that Nigeria is included.
