Immigration Policy Update

Green Card Applicants May Face Out-of-Country Requirement Under New USCIS Memo

A recent memorandum from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services outlines new requirements for certain green card applicants.

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a new policy memorandum that could require certain green card applicants to complete their application process from outside the United States. The directive, dated May 21, 2026, took effect immediately and applies to pending and future Form I-485 adjustment of status applications, according to legal analysis of the memo. The guidance is titled “Adjustment of Status is a Matter of Discretion and Administrative Grace, and an Extraordinary Relief that Permits Applicants to Dispense with the Ordinary Consular Visa Process.”

Prior to this memo, many foreign nationals who were already in the United States with legal status were able to apply for lawful permanent residence through adjustment of status while remaining in the country. This allowed applicants — including individuals married to U.S. citizens, work visa holders, student visa holders, refugees, asylum seekers, and others — to avoid leaving the United States for consular processing abroad.

The new guidance reframes adjustment of status as an extraordinary discretionary benefit, rather than a routine alternative to consular processing. USCIS officers are directed to consider all relevant factors on a case-by-case basis when deciding whether an applicant warrants approval inside the United States. In public statements following the memo, USCIS said that nonimmigrants such as students, temporary workers, and tourist visa holders are expected to leave the United States at the end of their authorized stay and should generally apply for a green card through the U.S. Department of State’s consular process abroad, except in extraordinary circumstances.

This change could affect a large number of applicants. Doug Rand, a former senior USCIS adviser during the Biden administration, told the Associated Press that about 600,000 people already in the United States apply for green cards each year. A Cato Institute analyst cited by The Guardian estimated that more than 1 million immigrants in the United States are waiting on green cards.

Immigration attorneys and advocacy groups are currently analyzing the full scope of the memo’s implications. Shev Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said USCIS is trying to “upend decades of processing of adjustment of status” and warned that the policy appears to apply broadly to people seeking green cards. Attorneys have raised concerns that the change could create significant hurdles for applicants who have built lives in the United States, including mixed-status families, workers, students, humanitarian applicants, and people who may be unable to safely return to their home countries.

USCIS has stated that the memo is intended to return the system to what the agency describes as the original purpose of the law and to prevent temporary stays in the United States from becoming a default pathway to permanent residence. The agency also said that applicants who provide an “economic benefit” or are otherwise in the “national interest” may likely be able to continue on their current path, while others may be asked to apply abroad depending on individualized circumstances.

Important details remain unclear, including how the policy will affect currently pending cases, whether applicants required to leave the United States must remain abroad for the entire process, and what specific exceptions will be recognized. The memo also indicates that USCIS may issue additional category-specific guidance in the future, but no timeline has been provided.

Applicants are advised to consult with qualified immigration counsel to determine how the new policy may affect their individual cases.