Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Donald Trump-led US administration has announced that those in the US temporarily must return to their home countries to apply for a Green Card. A Green Card (officially known as a Permanent Resident Card) allows a person to live and work permanently in the United States.
The announcement by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services is a sweeping reversal of a practice in place for over half a century. It could potentially impact thousands of Indians presently in the US in different stages of residence and seeking a Green Card.
The earlier policy allowed foreign workers to change from non-immigrant to immigrant by applying for “adjustment of status” from within the US. “From now on, an alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances,” USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler said in a statement.
While there are approximately 1.5 million Indian Green Card holders in the US, an additional 1.2 million highly skilled Indian nationals and their dependents are estimated to be presently stuck in the employment-based Green Card backlog.
