The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has clarified that most immigrants applying for Green Cards will not have to leave the United States while their applications are being processed.
The clarification follows confusion over a recent announcement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which appeared to suggest that applicants would generally need to return to their home countries and wait abroad unless they qualified for rare or “extraordinary” exceptions.
The interpretation sparked concern among immigrants and immigration advocates. However, according to The New York Times, DHS has now confirmed that most people seeking permanent residency can remain in the United States while their Green Card applications are pending.
DHS said Friday that there has been no broad change to the Green card process. Immigration officers have long had the authority to decide on a case-by-case basis whether an applicant should complete the process from outside the United States, according to The New York Times.
A DHS spokesperson said the recent guidance was intended to remind officers of that existing authority, not introduce a new requirement for applicants to leave the country. The department stressed that most people seeking permanent residency will still be allowed to stay in the United States while their cases are under review.
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Officials said certain factors, including visa overstays and other immigration-related issues, could influence how individual cases are handled. However, DHS has not provided detailed guidance on which applicants could be asked to complete the process from abroad.
The clarification represents a shift from the impression created by last week’s announcement, which also reportedly caused confusion within the government. According to The New York Times, some DHS officials were uncertain about the scope of the guidance when it was first released.
A senior White House official told the newspaper that the move should be viewed as a routine administrative update rather than a major change in U.S. immigration policy.
Questions remain because the government has not clearly defined the circumstances under which applicants may be required to leave the United States during the green card process.
For now, DHS has made clear that the vast majority of immigrants seeking permanent residency will continue to be allowed to stay in the country while their applications are being reviewed.