Fidelia Soriwei, Abuja
United States President, Donald Trump, has directed that Nigerians and other foreign nationals seeking permanent residency in the United States must return to their home countries to process green card applications, except under what authorities described as extraordinary circumstances.
The new immigration policy was announced on Friday by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, which said the measure was aimed at restoring the “original intent” of American immigration laws.
According to the agency, foreigners currently in the United States on temporary visas would no longer be allowed to complete the adjustment of status process from within the country in most cases.
Instead, applicants would now be required to return to their countries of origin and process their residency applications through American consular offices supervised by the United States Department of State.
“We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly. 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,” the agency stated.
A spokesman for USCIS, Zach Kahler, said the policy was designed to discourage illegal stay in the United States after unsuccessful residency applications.
“This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivising loopholes. 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,” Kahler said.
The agency explained that the policy would mostly affect temporary visitors, including students, tourists and foreign workers admitted into the United States on nonimmigrant visas.
“Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the U.S. for a short time and for a specific purpose. Our system is designed for them to leave when their visit is over. Their visit should not function as the first step in the Green Card process,” the statement added.
USCIS also said the new process would allow the agency to focus resources on other immigration matters, including citizenship applications, human trafficking cases and petitions involving victims of violent crimes.
“The law was written this way for a reason, and despite the fact that it has been ignored for years, following it will help make our system fairer and more efficient,” the agency stated.
The latest directive comes months after the Trump administration suspended the processing of green card and citizenship applications filed by Nigerians and nationals of several other countries affected by a US travel restriction policy introduced in 2025.
According to reports at the time, the suspension affected immigrants already living legally in the United States who were seeking either permanent residency or American citizenship.
The administration later extended the restriction to cover immigration petitions from nationals of 19 countries listed under the travel ban announced in June 2025.
The decision followed the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington DC during the Thanksgiving period, an attack US authorities said involved an Afghan national.
