Washington: Anxiety triggered across immigrant communities as the US administration introduced a new immigration policy. Experts from technology sectors, investors and immigration experts slammed the latest change warning that stricter Green Card rules could disrupt industries dependent on skilled foreign workers. They added that the new policy may affect innovation and talent retention affecting America’s competitiveness.
“Does this mean AI Researchers, employees, and students will now have to leave the country and wait through a backlog process to continue their work? Harmful move for tech, business, and America broadly…” Reid Hoffman, co-founder and former executive chairman of LinkedIn said, questioning how this would be applicable.
AI entrepreneur and Coursera co-founder Andrew Ng also criticised the policy and its broader implications. “The new White House policy requiring green card applicants to apply from outside the US is a capricious attack on legal immigration. It will hurt families, leave us with fewer doctors, teachers and scientists, and hurt American competitiveness in AI.”
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) renewed its immigration policy issuing a new memo reaffirming that foreign nationals seeking permanent residency should generally complete the Green Card process outside the United States through consular processing. It highlighted that the new policy “allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivising loopholes”.
As per the updated guidelines, adjustment of status during a stay in the US will be treated as an extraordinary form of relief rather than a standard route to permanent residency. Immigration officers have been directed to assess applications individually and consider all relevant factors before granting exceptions.
“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 US temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances,” said USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler.
What does the new rule say
According to the new guidelines, individuals on temporary non-immigrant visas — including H-1B, F-1, J-1 and O-1 categories — may no longer be allowed to remain in the US while their Green Card applications are processed. Instead, they would have to travel to their home country, undergo a consular processing and obtain an immigrant vis to re-enter the country as permanent residents.
Indians to be affected the most
With a majority of the green card applicants hailing from the Indian diaspora, the new rule is concerning. Indian tech workers dominate H-1B visa categories and often spend years renewing temporary visas while waiting for permanent residency approval.
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