US orders Nigerians, other  seeking green cards to return home for processing

The United States government has directed Nigerians and other foreign nationals seeking permanent residency through green cards to return to their home countries to complete the application process.

The new directive was announced on Friday by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services as part of what the agency described as efforts to restore the “original intent” of US immigration law.

Under the revised policy, temporary visa holders already residing in the United States, including students, tourists and foreign workers, will generally no longer be allowed to complete green card adjustment processes from within the country unless they qualify under what officials termed “extraordinary circumstances.”

Instead, applicants will 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.

In a statement, USCIS said the move was designed to ensure stricter compliance with immigration procedures and discourage people from overstaying temporary visas after unsuccessful residency applications.

“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.

Zach Kahler, USCIS spokesperson said the new policy would reduce the number of migrants who remain in the United States illegally after their applications are denied.

“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 specifically targets non-immigrant visa categories, stressing that temporary visits to the United States were never intended to automatically transition into permanent residency pathways.

“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 further stated that routing applications through consular offices abroad would allow immigration authorities to redirect resources toward other priorities, including naturalisation requests, petitions involving victims of violent crimes and human trafficking cases.

“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 added.

The latest directive comes amid a  tightening of immigration controls under the Trump administration, particularly affecting nationals from several African and Asian countries.

In December 2025, the administration temporarily suspended the processing of green card and citizenship applications for Nigerians and nationals of other countries affected by US travel restrictions, according to reports by CBS News.

The suspension affected legal immigration applications handled by USCIS and impacted immigrants already living lawfully in the United States who were attempting to adjust their immigration status or obtain American citizenship.

The administration had also frozen immigration petitions from nationals of 19 countries covered by a travel ban introduced in June 2025 following a security incident involving an Afghan national in Washington, D.C..