USCIS offers good news on green card process for H-1B visa holders

Noman Sabit: U.S. immigration authorities clarified a policy outlined by the Trump administration last week that could spare many H‑1B visa holders from having to leave the country to apply for a green card.

The clarification follows a sweeping policy memo issued on Friday, which significantly narrows the conditions under which foreign nationals residing in the United States can transition to permanent residency without departing the country. The directive represents one of the most profound reversals of long-standing immigration practice in decades. Zach Kahler, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spokesman, told Newsweek in an email Sunday that the agency is “reasserting” what it believes Congress intended all along when it created the adjustment‑of‑status pathway.

“People who present applications that provide an economic benefit or otherwise are in the national interest will likely be able to continue on their current path,” Kahler explained, adding that others “may be asked to apply abroad depending on individualized circumstances.” A Shift in the Green Card Pathway

The administration’s new approach reshapes the transition from temporary nonimmigrant status to permanent residency. For decades, adjusting status domestically was a routine administrative process. Under the new guidance, USCIS argues that Congress never intended for temporary visitors—including students, H-1B professionals, L-1 corporate transferees, and tourists—to utilize their temporary stay as an automatic first step toward a green card. Instead, the agency is establishing consular processing abroad as the default requirement, reserving domestic adjustment of status strictly for exceptional cases.

In an earlier press release accompanying Friday’s memo, Kahler underscored this strict stance, stating most nonimmigrants would now be expected to return to their home countries to complete the process.

“We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly,” Kahler said in the earlier press release. “From now on, an alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances.”

This marks the administration’s formal position that temporary visa holders should not adjust status inside the U.S. unless they meet narrow exceptions.

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