LOS ANGELES:- The Trump administration announced last Friday a new rule requiring immigrants seeking green cards in the United States to apply in their own country, a surprise change in a long-standing policy that has sparked confusion and concern among aid groups, immigration lawyers and immigrants.

For more than half a century, foreign nationals with legal status have been able to apply for and complete the entire process for permanent residence in the United States – including individuals married to U.S. citizens, work and student visa holders, and refugees and political asylum seekers.

The announcement from US Citizenship and Immigration Services said that immigrants who are temporarily in the US and want to apply to become lawful permanent residents or green card holders will have to return home and apply there, except in “extraordinary circumstances.” USCIS officials will decide whether applicants meet those requirements.

“Nonimmigrants, such as students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the United States for short periods of time and for specific purposes. Our system is designed to allow them to leave once their visit is over. Their visit should not serve as the first step in the green card process,” the agency said in a statement.

This is the latest move by the Trump administration to make legal immigration more difficult for foreigners already in the US and those who want to come here.

“The goal of this policy is very clear. Senior officials in this administration have repeatedly said that they want fewer people to get permanent residency because permanent residency is a path to citizenship and they want to block that path for as many people as possible,” said Doug Rand, a former senior adviser to USCIS during the Biden administration, who added that about 600,000 people in the U.S. already apply for green cards each year.

USCIS has not said when the change will take effect, whether people will be required to live in another country throughout the process, or whether the policy will affect foreigners who already have green card applications in progress.

In a statement emailed to The Associated Press, the agency said that while people who provide “economic benefit” or “national interest” will be able to stay in the United States, others will have to go abroad to apply.

These changes come in addition to steps the administration has already taken to restrict and restrict entry for people from dozens of countries. In some cases, travel from those countries has been completely banned, while people from others will face delays in the visa process. Experts and advocates have warned that forcing people from those countries to return home to apply for green cards will prevent them from coming back.

“If families are told that a non-citizen family member must return to their country of origin to process their immigrant visa, but the immigrant visa is not processed there, it is a Catch-22. These policies will effectively create the indefinite separation of families,” wrote World Relief, a humanitarian and refugee resettlement organization.

USCIS described the change as a return to the “original intent of the law” and closing the “loophole.”

But immigration advocates and aid groups pushed back, saying that for many groups, being able to adjust their status in the U.S. was a long-standing practice, and many people were unable to return home because it was not safe or because there was no embassy to apply to. For example, the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan has been closed since the U.S. withdrawal in August 2021.

“USCIS is trying to reverse the decades-old process of adjusting status,” said Shev Dalal-Dheny, senior director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “This applies broadly to anyone seeking a green card.”

That could include people married to U.S. citizens, immigrants with humanitarian protections applying for a green card, and work visa holders, including doctors and professionals — as well as student and religious visa holders, the lawyer noted.