For over half a century, foreign nationals with legal status have been able to apply for and complete the entire process for permanent residence in the United States — including individuals married to U.S. citizens, holders of work and student visas, and refugees and political asylum seekers, among others.

The announcement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said foreigners who are in the U.S. temporarily and who want to apply to become lawful permanent residents, or green card holders, have to return home and apply there, except in “extraordinary circumstances.” USCIS officers would decide whether applicants meet those.

“Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the U.S. 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,” the agency said in a statement.

It is the latest step by the Trump administration making legal immigration more difficult for foreigners already in the U.S. and for those hoping to come here.

Hundreds of thousands apply for green cards from the US each year

“The goal of this policy is very explicit. Senior officials in this administration have said over and over that they want fewer people to get permanent residency because permanent residency is a path to citizenship and they want to block that path for as many people as possible,” said Doug Rand, a former senior advisor at USCIS during the Biden administration, who added that about 600,000 people already in the U.S. apply each year for a green card.

USCIS did not say when the change would come into effect, whether individuals would be required to remain in another country throughout the entire process, or whether the policy impacts foreigners whose green card applications are already underway.

In an emailed statement to the Associated Press the agency said people who provide an “economic benefit” or “national interest” could likely stay in the U.S. while others would have to go abroad to apply.

The changes come on top of steps the administration has already taken to restrict and limit entry for people from dozens of countries. In some cases, there are outright bans on travel from those countries, while people from others face pauses in visa processing. Experts and attorneys warned that forcing people from those countries to return home to apply for a green card would result in them being barred from coming back.

“If families are told that the non-citizen family member must return to his or her country of origin to process their immigrant visa, but immigrant visas are not being processed there, it’s a Catch-22. These policies will effectively create an indefinite separation of families,” wrote World Relief, a humanitarian and refugee resettlement organization.

Confusion over who the change applies to

USCIS described the change as a return to “the original intent of the law” and closing a “loophole.”

But immigration lawyers and aid groups pushed back, saying it was longstanding practice for many groups to be able to adjust their status in the U.S. and that many people couldn’t return home because it wasn’t safe or they had no embassy to apply at. The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, for example, has been closed since the U.S. pullout in August 2021.

“USCIS is trying to upend decades of processing of adjustment of status,” said Shev Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “This all applies very broadly to anyone seeking a green card”.

Among them could be individuals married to U.S. citizens, immigrants with humanitarian protection who are applying for a green card, and holders of work visas — including doctors and professionals — as well as student and religious visa holders, the attorney noted.

At some U.S. consulates abroad, wait times for a visa appointment could take up to more than a year, said Dalal-Dheini.

Immigration attorneys were picking through the policy memo and announcement Friday afternoon, trying to decipher who it would apply to.

Organizations that provide legal and other assistance to immigrants said they were hearing from clients concerned about what the new guidance would mean for them.

“It’s really hard to tell how this is going to be applied,” said Jessie De Haven, senior staff attorney with the California Immigration Project a non profit that provides legal services to low income immigrants. “I do think it might have a chilling effect on people applying.”