Trump’s New Green Card Policy Explained: What It Means for Skilled Professionals

Introduction

The latest announcement from the Trump new immigration policy creates considerable uncertainty for skilled professionals living and working in the United States. Under these new USCIS green card changes, the new USCIS guidance indicates that many foreign nationals applying for permanent residency may have to depart the United States and complete the green card from abroad rather than changing their status within the United States.

For many years, the USCIS adjustment of status (AOS) process has allowed eligible applicants to remain in the United States while they transition from a temporary visa to permanent residency. This pathway may now be significantly narrowed under this new green card policy 2026, with dire consequences for hundreds of thousands of highly skilled laborers.

What Is the New USCIS Green Card Policy?

On May 22, 2026, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a broad USCIS policy update with a clear title: “Adjustment of status is a matter of administrative grace and discretion, and is an extraordinary relief that allows applicants to bypass the ordinary consular visa process.” The title says it all!

With this memo, USCIS has now changed its view of how it interprets the adjustment, as if it had previously been understood as an immigration process. The adjustment of status (AOS) was previously regarded as a “standard” immigration process for eligible applicants who resided in the USA. These adjustment of status changes mean that USCIS has clarified that the “Adjustment of Status” process is now to be viewed as an “Extraordinary” process and should not be viewed as a “Right” by the applicant.

What does this mean for applicants:

1. Leave the USA: A majority of Temporary Visa Holders should prepare to leave the USA
2. Apply through their Home Country: Their home country’s embassy or Consulate will be processing their application with the USA via the Visa Waiver Program (VWP || USA)
3. Passport Interview: Their home country’s embassy or Consulate will be the place where applicants will receive a Visa (“Consular Processing”)
4. Processing Wait Outside the USA Without In-Country Processing: The applicant will not have the advantage of being in the USA while processing their immigrant application

Who Could Be Affected?

The scope of this policy is wide. Immigration attorneys across the country have flagged that virtually every major nonimmigrant visa category is touched by this memo.

Visa/Category	Typical Profile	Potential Impact
H-1B	Sponsored tech/professional workers	High — large population mid-process
L-1	Intracompany transferees	High — often multi-year residency plans
F-1 / OPT	International students	High — many file AOS after OPT
O-1	Extraordinary ability workers	Moderate — may qualify for exceptions
B-2 Tourist	Those who married a U.S. citizen	High — now face much higher scrutiny
EB-2 / EB-3	Employment-based applicants	High — large backlogged population
Family-based	Spouses, children of U.S. citizens/PRs	High — significant number affected
Founders / Entrepreneurs	Startup founders on various visas	Moderate to High

Immigration attorneys note that the term “extraordinary circumstances” remains undefined in the memo, creating significant legal uncertainty. Multiple law firms have signaled they are reviewing the memo for potential legal challenges.

Get Your Case Score

Why This Matters for Skilled Professionals

To many skilled professionals, having the opportunity to stay in the US during the employment based green card process was critical to their professional and personal life plans. What an in-country adjustment of status meant to them, therefore, was:

• No interruption in work authorization
• Continued work history at the same employer with no need to answer questions about why they left
• The ability to leave and return on advance parole
• Family unit remained intact, no separation of spouse or children while they were in school
• In the future, should any bars to re-entry be triggered, applicants have protection against them on account of this category of adjustment

Potential new issues applicants may face under consular processing include:

• Lengthy delays at US embassies/consulates
• Long wait to obtain visa for appointment at U.S. embassy/consulate (potentially several months)
• Additional processing time due to the Department of State’s security processes (i.e., administrative processing) that can take weeks or months to complete
• Uncertainty about whether they would be able to return to the U.S. after departing
• Possibly triggering the 3/10 year re-entry prohibition based on unlawful presence, if they do not seek proper counsel before departing
• Disruption to family unit caused by the applicant departing to apply for the visa, and the family has to then deal with the disruption to their routines (school and work) and staying connected with each other

Opponents of this new process believe that the above will have an extremely negative impact on the U.S.’s ability to attract and retain the best global workforce at a time when there is unprecedented global competition (i.e., a worldwide talent shortage).

Could EB1A and National Interest Cases Become More Important?

Possibly, and this is a critical strategic question for many skilled professionals navigating EB1A immigration and national interest immigration pathways.

The USCIS memo signals that applicants who can demonstrate they provide “economic benefit” or serve the “national interest” may continue receiving more discretionary flexibility. This language aligns closely with the criteria for several self-petition pathways, making immigration strategy for professionals more important than ever:

Pathway	Who It’s For	Key Advantage
EB-1A	Individuals with extraordinary ability (science, arts, business, athletics, education)	No employer sponsor required; strongest evidence of impact
O-1	Workers with extraordinary achievement in their field	Nonimmigrant but shows high-value status
EB-2 NIW	Professionals whose work serves the national interest	Self-petition; no job offer or PERM needed
Founder-driven cases	Entrepreneurs building U.S.-based companies	Can demonstrate economic contribution directly

If applicants have sufficient evidence to meet the requirements of the EB-1A or National Interest Waiver (NIW), these two methods of immigration may allow for quicker processing times and stronger evidence to support staying in the United States while waiting for approval.

The applications for the NIW must demonstrate: (1) the intended project will have substantial merit and relevance to the United States, (2) the individual applying for the NIW has the requisite credentials and ability to execute the planned project successfully, and (3) the benefits to the United States of eliminating the requirement that the individual acquire an employment sponsor will outweigh any disadvantages that may be caused by issuing an immigration visa to the individual in question.

For STEM-related professionals, researchers, or entrepreneurs, this means that NIW is becoming more viable than ever!

Remember: Evidence, narrative, and impact are extremely important! Your EB-1A or NIW application is not just a request; it’s a document that positions you strategically in relation to the immigration process.

The Bigger Shift: Immigration Is Becoming More Strategic

The key element in these immigration policy changes is not based on operation but rather a strategic outcome.

Historically, many skilled professionals considered the immigration process to be an administrative function handled by either Human Resources or an attorney (with minimal involvement from the skilled professional). However, this model has been debated and is under significant pressure at this time.

In today’s policy environment, the following is required to ensure your success:

• Long Term Picture — Your Plan for Success will Need to be Designed for the Next Several Years — Not Just for the Coming Months
• Risk Assessment — Understand Which Actions (e.g. Traveling Outside the U.S.) May Result in Unintended Consequences
• Narrative Positioning — Have a Clearly Articulated, Evidence-Based Case for the Impact of Your Work on Others
• Evidence Collection — Document Whether You Have Achieved Awards, Recognition, Citations, Publications, or Contributions to Your Industry Over Time
• Align Your Career and Your Immigration Process — Making Professional Decisions with Immigration Concerns in Mind

By placing emphasis on the need for case-by-case determinations to be made based upon the strength of each case, the memo highlights the potential for two similarly situated applicants (e.g., the same visa history) to have differing results based upon the strength of the case presented and built.

Professionals who prepare their cases well in advance of applying, provide consistent, complete documentation of their contributions/achievements, and know their immigration options are much more able than other applicants to have greater flexibility whenever policy changes occur.

Run Your Profile Check

Final Thoughts

The USCIS Policy Memo PM-602-0199, dated May 22, 2026, represents one of the largest changes in how the U.S. immigration system processes employment-based applications in many years. As part of the broader Trump new immigration policy agenda, by changing the definition of adjustment of status from being “the default” to being “an extraordinary remedy,” it shifts the burden to the applicant for justification on behalf of a U.S. presence while the case is pending to prove that it is not safe to return to his or her home country.

There are many implementation issues that remain unclear; “extraordinary circumstances” remain undefined, pending I-485 cases are still being reviewed under uncertain conditions and seem to exist in a complicated and ambiguous setting unless there is already a pending claim in the courts from an immigration firm regarding any of your family’s immigration case. Therefore, there may be delays in obtaining the resumption of your application even though most immigration law firms will likely file lawsuits claiming bad faith against the government.

However, it is clear that the reactive immigration plan will become substantially more difficult to use going forward.

Early planning and placement are likely to play an even larger role in success than they do currently, especially for skilled workers, entrepreneurs/founders, and/or researchers and/or innovators. Therefore, developing a plan and identifying options prior to a policy change is critical before making the final decision.

FAQs

1. What is USCIS Policy Memo PM-602-0199, and what does it change?

This memo changes the way that USCIS regards USCIS adjustment of status from being a normal pathway to gaining a green card in the U.S. to being an “extraordinary” remedy.

On May 22, 2026, USCIS issued this memo to direct officers to use Form I-485 (adjustment of status) as a form of discretionary administrative action rather than an automatic right. This does not affect the legal eligibility under INA § 245, but it will greatly raise the discretionary bar for approval. Officers may now deny all applications for AOS and send applicants to an overseas consular processing center to obtain a green card. The memo refers to only one exception — ‘extraordinary circumstances,’ which remains undefined and gives rise to continuing legal uncertainty.

2. Does this mean H-1B visa holders can no longer get a green card inside the U.S.?

They can still apply, but the green card process for H1B visa holders will be much harder and far less likely to result in approval.

H-1B professionals continue to be legally able to file an application for an adjustment of status. However, the way in which USCIS will consider applications will have changed. Consequently, a typical H-1B professional applying for EB-2 or EB-3 classification could have his or her application denied and be required to go through consular processing outside the U.S. At this time, attorneys strongly urge H-1B visa holders against traveling outside of the U.S. or taking any unilateral action without legal counsel, as it may create very serious unintended consequences affecting their eligibility.

3. What is the EB-1A visa, and why does it matter here?

The EB-1A is a green card designed for “extraordinarily talented” individuals and will carry more weight under the new policy.

The EB-1A visa (Extraordinary Ability, Employment Based First Preference) does NOT require you to work with an employer and therefore does not require any type of PERM Labor Certification — you will be able to file your EB1A immigration application as a self-petitioner, which means that you are responsible for demonstrating that you have had significant sustained nationally or internationally acclaimed contributions to your profession as demonstrated by the following: awards, published material about you, high salaries for your position, performing as a judge in your field, and making significant original contributions in your field. Due to the “economic benefit” and “national interest” terminology utilized in the USCIS Memo, a well-documented EB-1A case will likely carry more weight under discretionary review.