Foreigners seeking to adjust their status to lawful permanent residency in the United States will now have to leave the country and apply through the State Department from abroad, US Citizenship and Immigration Services said Friday in a policy memo. The change closes the most common pathway used for legal immigration, The Hill reported, and could have far-reaching ramifications for immigrants already in the country, the Japan Times reported.
What changes in practice? Prospective green-card applicants who are physically in the United States — including many on work, student or family visas — will no longer be able to file the adjustment-of-status paperwork that has historically let them remain in the country while their applications are processed, the Guardian reported. USCIS portrayed the policy as "restoring" statutory intent rather than introducing new restrictions, per The Hill's reading of the policy memo.
Why does it matter? The shift is the latest step by the 
Donald Trump administration making legal immigration more difficult, PBS NewsHour reported, and stacks onto a broader crackdown that has compressed virtually every entry route into the country. Advocates criticized the rule as a procedural workaround that achieves a sharp legal-immigration reduction without congressional action, per the Guardian's framing.
Who is affected? The change applies to all prospective adjustments, including spousal- and employment-based green cards, the Guardian reported. Applicants already mid-process face the choice of returning to their home country to refile through the State Department or abandoning the application — a calculation that becomes harder for those whose home countries have travel-restriction or security issues.
What is the administration's defense? USCIS framed the policy memo as a return to the statute's "original" meaning, The Hill reported, rather than a discretionary tightening. No congressional vote is required for the procedural reinterpretation; the administration is implementing it through agency guidance.
Figures referenced: Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
