Financial Times: green card overseas processing

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said on May 22 that it will grant adjustment of status to permanent residency only in “extraordinary circumstances,” a change that would require most people already in the United States to finish the green-card process abroad. The move was described in a May 21 policy memorandum and in a USCIS news release issued the next day. Mario Nawfal amplified the Financial Times report on X, but the operative government documents are the USCIS memo and release. For decades, adjustment of status has been the mechanism that let many eligible applicants seek a green card without leaving the country. USCIS’s public guidance, last updated on April 23, said adjustment of status is the process used to apply for lawful permanent residence while present in the United States and that it lets applicants avoid returning home for visa processing. The new memo does not repeal the statute, but it tells officers to treat that route as discretionary relief rather than the ordinary path. ### What exactly changed in the government’s own language? USCIS said on May 22 that “aliens seeking adjustment of status must do so through consular processing via the Department of State outside of the country,” except when officers decide extraordinary circumstances justify adjustment inside the United States. The agency said officers must weigh the facts case by case. USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler said, “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.” (uscis.gov) The May 21 memorandum uses broader legal language. It says adjustment of status under section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act is “a matter of discretion and administrative grace” and “an extraordinary relief” that lets applicants avoid the “ordinary consular visa process.” The memo cites Board of Immigration Appeals decisions and Supreme Court cases to argue that in-country adjustment was never meant to supersede consular processing. (uscis.gov) ### Who used to be able to do this inside the United States? For over half a century, foreign nationals with legal status have been able to complete the permanent-residency process inside the United States, according to Associated Press reporting carried by U.S. News and other outlets. That group has included people married to U.S. citizens, holders of work and student visas, and refugees and asylum seekers. The USCIS adjustment-of-status page, still available as of May 24, says applicants present in the United States may apply for a green card without returning to their home country. (uscis.gov) The contrast between the older public guidance and the new memo is central to the confusion around the change. USCIS’s existing webpage describes adjustment of status as a standard process for eligible people inside the country, while the new policy memo instructs officers to treat it as exceptional. ### Does the new policy say who still qualifies to stay and file here? (usnews.com) USCIS did not spell out a detailed list of qualifying exceptions in the news release. The agency said only that officers should consider “all relevant factors and information on a case-by-case basis” when deciding whether someone warrants this “extraordinary form of relief.” The memo itself, as surfaced in available excerpts, frames adjustment as discretionary but does not in those excerpts provide a public checklist of exempt categories. (uscis.gov) That leaves the phrase “extraordinary circumstances” doing much of the work. Immigration lawyers quoted in secondary coverage said the policy was expected to trigger litigation and disrupt adjustment-of-status filings, including for some H-1B workers, but those legal challenges were not identified in the USCIS documents themselves as of May 24. (uscis.gov) ### Why is the administration saying it made the change? Zach Kahler said the administration was “returning to the original intent of the law” and argued that requiring applicants to process abroad would reduce the need to locate and remove people who remain in the country after a denial. He also said routing more cases to State Department consulates would free USCIS resources for other work, including naturalization and visas for victims of violent crime and human trafficking. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) The memo makes the same argument in legal rather than political terms. It says consular processing is the ordinary route to an immigrant visa and that adjustment of status is an exception that lets an applicant avoid leaving the country. ### What should readers watch next? May 21, 2026 is the date on the policy memorandum, and May 22, 2026 is the date on the USCIS release announcing it. (uscis.gov) The next concrete markers are any updated USCIS web guidance on adjustment of status, any State Department instructions for consular processing, and any court filings challenging PM-602-0199, the memo cited by the agency. (uscis.gov)