USCIS says green card applicants must seek status changes abroad

Green-card applicants who are already in the United States may now have to leave and finish the process abroad, turning a once in-country path to permanent residence into a consular slog that could keep families apart and put jobs on hold.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199 on May 21, 2026, saying adjustment of status under section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act is a matter of discretion and “administrative grace,” not a process meant to supersede regular immigrant-visa processing through U.S. consulates. USCIS said officers should weigh all relevant factors and information case by case when deciding whether extraordinary relief is warranted, leaving room for exceptions but signaling far tighter control over who can stay and file from inside the country.

The agency’s own public guidance still says adjustment of status is the process used to apply for lawful permanent resident status while present in the United States. But the State Department says immigrant visa applicants are generally processed abroad, and since November 1, 2025, they are generally scheduled to interview in their country of residence or nationality, with limited exceptions. Put together, the two agencies’ rules now point more clearly toward overseas processing for people who once relied on in-country adjustment.

The practical effect could be broad. Family-based applicants, employment-based applicants and some humanitarian cases that previously moved through adjustment of status inside the United States may now be forced into consular processing outside the country. Immigration lawyers say that means some people may have to leave jobs, interrupt household routines and wait abroad while their immigrant-visa cases run their course.

The human stakes are even sharper for vulnerable applicants. HIAS, the refugee services organization, warned that the change could force survivors of trafficking and abused or neglected children to return to the dangerous countries they fled just to complete green-card applications. That risk sits at the center of the policy fight: a system that is supposed to create stability and lawful permanent residence may now require travel outside the United States even for people who are already legally here.

The shift also fits a broader immigration crackdown under President Donald Trump. The administration has already shortened visa durations for students, cultural exchange visitors and members of the media, and the State Department has said it revoked more than 100,000 visas since Trump took office the year before. The new USCIS memo extends that harder line into one of the most consequential steps in the legal immigration process, where the biggest risks now fall on families waiting for reunification, employers counting on new hires and applicants who may be told to start over from abroad.