Foreign students, temporary workers and some other immigrants looking to become green-card holders now face having to return to their home country to get their U.S. residency, following a memo released by the Trump administration on Friday.

The move by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the latest effort to tighten the legal immigration system, which the White House argues has been abused for decades. The memo emphasized that Congress set out a pathway to permanent residency that it said was not being followed.

“We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly,” USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler said in a press release. “From now on, an alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances.”

New Green-Card Rules: What to Know

The memo, shared with USCIS officers, reiterates that the process allowing applicants to obtain a green card without leaving the United States was never intended to replace the traditional pathway of applying for an immigrant visa from abroad.

As part of the updated policy, officials said that even if applicants technically meet the requirements for permanent residency when they are about to apply in the U.S., as their visa comes to an end, they would still need to return home and wait for the U.S. State Department to process their case.

There has long been a legal mechanism in which:

• A person can file for adjustment of status while in the U.S.
• In many cases, they can remain while it’s pending and may receive work/travel authorization

“This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes,” Kahler said. “When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency.”

Who Is Affected?

Temporary visa holders are the largest affected group, including:

• H‑1B (skilled workers)
• F‑1 (students)
• B‑1/B‑2 (tourists/business visitors)
• L‑1 (intra-company transferees)

Other immigrants included in the memo are those who have overstayed their visas, and those who have humanitarian parole.

The U.S. grants roughly 1 million green cards per year, but a significant portion goes to those with family-based applications, meaning they would not be affected by the memo.

This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.