Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India] May 23 (ANI): Ajay Jain Bhutoria, a prominent Indian-American community leader and former US President Joe Biden's Advisory Commissioner, has strongly condemned a new USCIS policy that forces foreign nationals on temporary visas to return to their home countries to apply for Green Cards.

Describing the directive, USCIS Memo PM-602-0199, as an 'unprecedented crisis' and a 'backdoor ban,' Bhutoria warned that the policy reversal will devastatingly impact families, innovation, medical advancements, and corporate stability after the new USCIS policy sent shockwaves through the immigrant and tech communities.

The outcry follows a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcement on May 22, 2026, stating that USCIS will now grant domestic Adjustment of Status (Form I-485) only under 'extraordinary circumstances.'

Under the new directive, foreign nationals seeking a Green Card must generally leave the United States and complete consular processing via the Department of State in their home countries.

Bhutoria said the policy reversal is devastating for those who have worked to fast-track green cards and provide early employment authorisation documents, arguing that forcing highly skilled professionals, who legally contribute to the US economy, to uproot their lives and travel abroad for processing creates massive instability.

Bhutoria warned that the memo gives officers 'unchecked discretion to deny your domestic I-485,' even when applicants meet all statutory requirements. 'THE BOMBSHELL: Meeting statutory eligibility is no longer enough,' he wrote on X. He said employment-based paths 'are directly in the crosshairs,' with H-1B, H-4, L-1, L-2, B-1, & B-2 visas facing 'aggressive scrutiny.'

He noted that even dual-intent visas are vulnerable: 'Even though these are legal 'dual-intent' visas, USCIS explicitly states maintaining status alone isn't enough.' Adjudicators, he said, are 'ordered to audit your entire US history--any minor status gap or unauthorised work means a denial.' For those denied, 'They must pack up, leave their homes, and go back to their home country.'

According to the agency's press release, shifting the majority of cases to US consular offices abroad 'frees up limited USCIS resources to focus on processing other cases,' such as naturalisation applications and visas for victims of human trafficking and violent crime. DHS maintains that enforcing this protocol 'will help make our system fairer and more efficient.'

For individuals stuck in multi-decade green card backlogs, particularly high-skilled workers from countries like India, Bhutoria called the timing of the memo 'cruel.' The policy heavily penalises Indian professionals caught in an already severe employment-based Green Card backlog, forcing them into extended uncertainty away from their families and jobs while they await consular appointments.

By stripping away early employment authorisation documents (EADs) and the ability to adjust status domestically, families who have waited years for their priority dates to become current are now being forced abroad. Once outside the US, Bhutoria warned, they will immediately collide with 'massive visa backlogs & the new 75-country consular suspension trap.'

He appealed to the business and immigrant communities to push back against the directive.

'This memo inflicts corporate chaos & tears families apart,' Bhutoria stated. 'We must stand together, amplify this, and fight to protect legal pathways!' (ANI)