The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has clarified that most immigrants applying for permanent residency will not be required to leave the United States while their green card applications are being processed, following confusion triggered by a recent announcement from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
According to a report by The New York Times, DHS said there has been no broad change in policy and that immigration officers have long retained the authority to determine on a case-by-case basis whether an applicant should complete the green card process from outside the country.
The clarification came after a USCIS announcement last week appeared to suggest that applicants would generally need to return to their home countries while awaiting permanent residency approval unless they qualified for “extraordinary” exceptions. The guidance sparked concern among immigrants, employers and immigration lawyers.
“This was just a reminder to officers of their discretionary authority, which has always existed on a case-by-case basis,” a DHS spokesperson said, according to The New York Times.
The department said most applicants seeking permanent residency would continue to be allowed to remain in the United States while their cases are reviewed. However, officials indicated that factors such as visa overstays or other immigration-related concerns could influence individual decisions.
The New York Times reported that some immigration attorneys have already seen applicants being questioned by USCIS officers about why they were seeking green cards from within the United States rather than through consular processing abroad.
The clarification represents a significant shift from the impression created by the earlier USCIS announcement, which had raised fears of disruption for family-sponsored immigrants and foreign workers awaiting permanent residency.
While DHS has sought to reassure applicants, questions remain over how the discretionary authority will be applied, as the government has yet to provide detailed guidance on which categories of immigrants could be asked to complete the process from outside the United States.