Hemayet Hossain from USA

The Trump administration has announced a sweeping change to U.S. immigration policy that will force most foreigners seeking green cards to leave the United States and apply from their home countries, a move that threatens to upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of international students, including many from Bangladesh.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memo on Friday directing officers to end the practice of “adjustment of status” for non-immigrants already in the U.S. on temporary visas.

Under the new rule, students, temporary workers and tourists who want permanent residency must return to their home countries and go through consular processing via the State Department.

USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler said the change restores “the original intent of the law” and ends what the administration calls a loophole that allowed temporary visitors to use their stay as “the first step in the Green Card process”. Only applicants facing “extraordinary circumstances” will be considered for adjustment of status within the U.S., on a case-by-case basis.

The policy directly hits international students on F-1 visas, many of whom arrive in the U.S. on scholarships from their home governments or private sponsors.

Bangladesh sends thousands of students to U.S. universities each year, often with the expectation of pursuing Optional Practical Training and, for many, eventual employment-based green cards through employers.

Under the new rule, those students will have to interrupt their studies or jobs, leave the U.S., and wait for their green card applications to be processed at a U.S. consulate in Dhaka or another foreign post. The process can take months to years, and departure could jeopardize ongoing research, employment offers, or family life.

“Non-immigrants, like students, temporary workers or people on tourist visas, come to the U.S. for a short time and for a specific purpose,” Kahler said. “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”. 2394

Immigration advocates warn the shift will disproportionately affect students and other law-abiding visa holders who have built lives in the U.S. HIAS, a refugee aid group, said the policy forces trafficking survivors and abused children to return to the dangerous countries they fled in order to pursue residency. 99d0

The green card change is the latest in a series of restrictions under Trump’s second term. Last year the administration shortened the duration of student, cultural exchange and media visas. It has also imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications for high-skilled workers and heightened social media vetting for F, M and J visa applicants. 99d0239414c7

The administration has framed the policy as a way to free USCIS resources for other priorities, including naturalization and visas for victims of crime and trafficking. DHS said the move will also “reduce 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”.

For Bangladeshi and other scholarship students, the uncertainty is immediate.

Many enter the U.S. with the expectation that they can transition from student status to employment and then to permanent residency without leaving. The new rule closes that pathway for most applicants, leaving their long-term future in doubt unless they qualify for the narrow “extraordinary circumstances” exemption.

Legal challenges are expected, and former USCIS officials note that about half of the 1 million annual green card applicants currently adjust status from within the U.S..

Until the courts or Congress act, students on scholarships face a choice: leave the country and risk lengthy separation from their academic programs, or abandon green card plans altogether.

Meanwhile, thousands of Bangladeshi students studying in different universities in the US have been frustrated due to enforcement of new rules regarding permanent residents or green cards.

They think, it will create great problems as well as uncertainty on academic life.