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Green card seekers must leave U.S. to apply, Trump administration says

nytimes.com

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Re: Green card seekers must leave U.S. to apply, Trump administration says

#611

Post by _blk »

davidw wrote: post #574
cloche wrote: post #511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, I think this is the point. They want to push the needle so that even legal immigration is restricted or difficult (unless you happen to pay them directly) https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/23/us/politics/trump-legal-i...

[flagged]

As a rather conservative foreigner in the US I find this to be a very presumptive statement. We've made good friends, conservatives and liberals alike - we're people, that's what matters not the policitcal orientation. No conservative I know "hates immigrants." Consider what the policy intends to do rather than blanket-blaming it on hate.

Re: Green card seekers must leave U.S. to apply, Trump administration says

#612

Post by rayiner »

beering wrote: post #605
rayiner wrote: post #585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Applying for a greencard while working on an H, J or O-class visa is extremely common. But it’s not supposed to be extremely common to apply for a green card on an H or J visa. Those visas are explicitly “nonimmigrant” visas for people “temporarily” in the U.S. who have “no intention of abandoning” their foreign residence. Read the statute: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:8%20section:1... . It’s subs…

Sure, it’s temporary. But what if you’ve been working in the US for a while, like your job, and want to go permanent? Does it make sense to have to give up your job, move back home where there may not be a US consulate, and then apply from there? Or just apply for permanent residency? Why does your physical location matter if you’re in the country legally already? If the intention was to limit the number of people be…

Why are you looking at the law from the viewpoint of the foreign worker? Obviously what they want is a quick and easy path to citizenship. But they don’t get a vote.

The question is what was the intention of the H1B program when the law was enacted by duly elected legislators? It was never sold to the public as a path to permanent residency. It certainly wasn’t sold to the public as a system where each H1B granted would lead to citizenship, followed by bringing several family members with them through uncapped family reunification visas.

Re: Green card seekers must leave U.S. to apply, Trump administration says

#613

Post by beering »

esseph wrote: post #132
anigbrowl wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> simple fast lane for the 100% legal, non-complicated case Immigration policy in the current administration (which seems to be driven by Stephen Miller) is not based around legalaities, it's based around cutting immigration as much as possible because that's what satisfies Trump's voter base. These people do not care if you 'did it the right way'. They have an atavistic hatred of foreigners.

> Immigration policy in the current administration (which seems to be driven by Stephen Miller) is not based around legalaities, it's based around cutting immigration as much as possible White immigrants are fine with this administration. "All but 3 of 6,069 refugees taken in by Trump are White South Africans" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/05/22/trump-south-a...

Yeah, the move to take in only white refugees from SA was a clear message to their voter base that it’s about race. They could have chosen not to do that and have some plausible deniability, but they wanted to make that point very publicly.

Re: Green card seekers must leave U.S. to apply, Trump administration says

#614

Post by skeeter2020 »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #601
rajup wrote: post #521

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"intentionally malevolent" -> Stephen Miller's second name. The cruelty is and always was the point.

Yup, he's not minced words in all the interviews he's done and he's happy to label US citizens "terrorists" if he thinks they're in his way or 'race traitors'. All because he was a massive loser in middle/high school, and like most bigots, his hatred is rooted in needing to have someone "beneath" him. So he based his entire personality and life around hating anyone not straight, white, male, and "American" so he coul…

>> It's also a bit sad how every generation of immigrants turn around and pull the ladder up behind them.

This is a real head scratcher. Some of the biggest Trump supporters I interact with at work are people of color, from countries the adminstration has labelled "shitholes" - they would never be allowed to visit - let alone immigrate - today. I guess once you get yours everyone else can go to hell.

Re: Green card seekers must leave U.S. to apply, Trump administration says

#615

Post by skeeter2020 »

qingcharles wrote: post #468
hvb2 wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you're in your visa or green card process it's not uncommon to be advised not to travel out of the country... Yep. You're kind of in jail. It doesn't mean that you cannot, it just means that it might complicate your already complicated application. So if a family member dies, maybe... But that's it

I've known people who left for a brief period during the GC process on emergency basis and then were put into a literal jail on their return to the USA.

>> put into a literal jail on their return to the USA.

You'd be lucky today if that literal jail was IN the USA.

Re: Green card seekers must leave U.S. to apply, Trump administration says

#616

Post by refurb »

I don’t see this as that significant of a change.

The way I read the new policy is that it will be applied to people who have violated immigration law in some way.

An alien’s failure to comply with the conditions of their nonimmigrant admission or parole and an alien’s failure to depart as expected are highly relevant to this analysis

And those on dual-intent visa are fine…

USCIS reminds its officers that applying for adjustment of status is not inconsistent with simultaneously maintaining nonimmigrant status in a category with dual intent.

It’s basically adhering to the laws on the books. If you’ve violated immigration law a high hurdle will be in place to use this special pathway.

However, if you’re in the US on a dual-intent visa (e.g. H1-B) then you can continue to use the AOS pathway. This includes temporary works on L or H visas. And includes those sponsoring their spouses on K visas.

Re: Green card seekers must leave U.S. to apply, Trump administration says

#617

Post by skeeter2020 »

abalashov wrote: post #377

This is insane. I cannot fathom how I, nor educated and talented people I know, could have possibly stayed in the US back in the day if this requirement had been in place then. Applying for a greencard while working on an H, J or O-class visa is extremely common. Far from a loophole, applying from inside the US is the only reasonable way to apply for a greencard. Depending on the country of origin, there may not even…

GC issuances were already way down because DHS has basically stopped working on processing them. Now they're taking the next step and saying the ability to apply for a GC while in the US was a "loophole" which is utter horse shit; "adjustment of status" has been part of immigration since the 50's, and was expanded in the 90's and 2000 with support from all parties to increase efficiency, reduce the backlog and keep strong economic players in the US. You may notice that this adminstration has figured out they could weaponize inefficiency and a huge backlog if you don;t give a shit about the economic health of the country.

This is a long winded way of saying you're right with "intentionally malevolent"; this is the next step in a pretty transparent plan.

Re: Green card seekers must leave U.S. to apply, Trump administration says

#618

Post by _heimdall »

Sure seems like we as a country are heading further down the isolationist, nationalist road. I expect we won't be the last western country to batten down the hatches as it were, for better or worse it seems like most countries are preparing for something much larger.

Re: Green card seekers must leave U.S. to apply, Trump administration says

#619

Post by skeeter2020 »

confuseddesi wrote: post #438
abalashov wrote: post #377

This is insane. I cannot fathom how I, nor educated and talented people I know, could have possibly stayed in the US back in the day if this requirement had been in place then. Applying for a greencard while working on an H, J or O-class visa is extremely common. Far from a loophole, applying from inside the US is the only reasonable way to apply for a greencard. Depending on the country of origin, there may not even…

These are all non-immigrant visa classes. The understanding is that you are temporarily immigrating to the United States. Why should it be surprising then that it is hard to become a permanent resident/immigrant if you explicitly came on a non-immigrant visa?

because the government realize more than 75 years ago that conditions change and "adjustment of status" can be in everyone's best interest. People get married, students graduate and get jobs or start companies, and so on. It was never about rubber-stamping greencards; they're still tough to get. It was about making it more efficient and keeping strong players in the US. If you send 100 students back to their home country after they graduate, more than 50 of them won't come back.

Re: Green card seekers must leave U.S. to apply, Trump administration says

#620

Post by skeeter2020 »

abalashov wrote: post #485
confuseddesi wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are all non-immigrant visa classes. The understanding is that you are temporarily immigrating to the United States. Why should it be surprising then that it is hard to become a permanent resident/immigrant if you explicitly came on a non-immigrant visa?

There isn't really such a thing as an immigrant visa. These non-immigrant visas are the only legal route to come here, by and large, excluding a few obvious exceptions like marriage to an American. Also, it's quite hard to become a permanent resident/immigrant even without the obstacle of this being categorically prohibited. My family, for instance, overcame some very low odds of success to make this happen (highly e…

>> excluding a few obvious exceptions like marriage to an American.

this is a good example, because let's say someone is here on a student visa or temp work visa, falls in love and gets married. without the ability to adjust their immigration status they now have to leave the country - probably for years - to apply and hopefully get a greencard. Good luck making that marraige work.

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