A day after announcing it would restrict green card applications filed from inside the US, the US immigration agency partially softened its position on Friday, saying workers who demonstrate an economic benefit or are in the national interest will likely be allowed to continue on their current path and apply for the permit from within America.
In a policy memo dated May 22, the agency directed officers to approve adjustment of status applications — the process by which visa holders apply for a green card without leaving the US — only in “extraordinary circumstances.”
On Friday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Zach Kahler said: “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 while others may be asked to apply abroad depending on individualized circumstances”.
“While we work to operationalise this,” Kahler said, USCIS was “merely restating and reasserting” the original intent of Congress on adjustment of status — framing the memo as a reaffirmation of existing law rather than a new restriction.
The developments are being watched closely by Indian professionals, who make up an estimated 71% of all approved H-1B applications and bear a disproportionate share of the policy’s potential impact. Many are caught in decade-long backlogs in the EB-2 and EB-3 employment-based green card categories, and had until this week assumed that maintaining legal status through that wait was sufficient to secure permanent residency.
