No More US-Based Green Cards: Trump Administration Ends Exemption for Temporary Visa Holders

The Donald Trump administration has overhauled how it reviews permanent residency applications, ending the long-held certainty that following immigration rules guarantees a Green Card.

Under a new policy memo issued by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), foreign nationals living temporarily in the US — including H-1B visa holders — will generally no longer be allowed to complete the Green Card application process from within the country.

"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," USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler said in a statement issued on Friday.

The Policy Memo

The USCIS directive categorises domestic Adjustment of Status — the process of applying for a Green Card while already in the US — as an "extraordinary form of relief" and a matter of administrative grace. Immigration officers have been ordered to scrutinise applications heavily on a case-by-case basis. Meeting all statutory eligibility requirements is no longer sufficient to secure a domestic Green Card.

Officers are now required to weigh positive factors, such as long-term tax history and community ties, against negative factors like brief administrative status gaps or unauthorised employment technicalities.

USCIS Justification

Kahler said the policy was intended to restore the original design of the immigration system. "Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the US for a short time and for a specific purpose. 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," he said.

He added that routing applications through US consular offices abroad would free up USCIS resources to focus on other priorities, including visas for victims of violent crime and human trafficking, and naturalisation applications.

End of a Predictable Framework

For decades, the legal immigration framework operated on a predictable baseline, that if an applicant secured corporate or family sponsorship, maintained legal status and cleared background checks, permanent residency approval was effectively assured.

The new memo dismantles this by leaning on older legal precedents that treat in-country status adjustment as an exception, rather than the rule.

The policy carries significant implications for high-skilled foreign workers, particularly Indian professionals on H-1B and L-1 visas. While these visa categories are legally designated as dual-intent — meaning holders can actively seek permanent residency — the new memo states that maintaining valid dual-intent status alone is not sufficient to warrant a favourable exercise of discretion.

As a result, an applicant with a completely clean legal record could still face denial if an officer determines the application lacks sufficient merit. A recent US Supreme Court ruling that limits judicial review over discretionary immigration decisions means such denials will be difficult to challenge in court.