US green card applicants will now have to return to home countries to apply, DHS says

USCIS directed officers to require green card applicants who are temporarily in the United States to return to their home country to apply through the State Department. The policy was issued in a memo instructing case-by-case consideration of relevant factors and information when determining whether extraordinary relief is warranted. The green card process had remained largely unchanged for more than 60 years. DHS said the change helps the immigration system function as intended and discourages loopholes. More than one million immigrants were described as waiting for green cards. The change is expected to force many applicants to leave jobs, homes, and relationships while cases are processed, and it may worsen impacts on mixed-status families. It is unclear how pending cases will be handled, and aid groups criticized the policy for requiring vulnerable survivors to return to dangerous countries.

"Foreigners seeking to adjust their immigration status in the United States to secure green cards will have to do so from outside the country via the state department, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said on Friday, in a move criticized by aid groups, policy analysts and immigration attorneys. USCIS announced the move in a policy memo, which directed officers to consider relevant factors and information on a case-by-case basis when determining whether extraordinary relief is warranted."

"An alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, said the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has oversight of USCIS. This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes. According to an analyst with the Cato Institute, more than 1 million immigrants in the US are waiting on their green cards."

"With the new USCIS policy, many green card applicants in the US will probably be required to leave while their cases are processed particularly affecting mixed-status families nationwide by forcing green card applicants to leave jobs, homes and relationships for an unknown amount of time. The agency is already struggling with a backlog of visa and green card cases. It is unclear how currently pending green card cases will be affected."

"HIAS, an aid group that provides services to refugees, among other groups of immigrants, said USCIS was forcing survivors of trafficking and abused and neglected children to return to the dangerous countries they fled in order to process their applications for green cards granting them per"

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