DHS Backs Off Its Demand for Green-Card Applicants to Leave US

May 30, 2026, 11:33 PM UTC

The Department of Homeland Security said that highly qualified and skilled green-card applicants will see no noticeable impact from a controversial policy announced last week that most people seeking permanent legal residency would have to apply from outside the US.

The clarification, which appeared aimed at reassuring employers and immigrants that the process won’t become restrictive, came in a statement Saturday, which said the guidance issued last week by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services merely reiterated longstanding law and policy.

At the time, a USCIS spokesperson said immigrants temporarily in the US who wanted green cards “must return to ...

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